UC-NRLF 


Mitoersfoe  ILiterature 


•KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH 

BT  '0xt*« 

WILLIAM   SHAKESPEARE 

«  » 

FROM  THE  RIVERSIDE   EDITION  EDITED  BY 
RICHARD   GRANT   WHITE 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION 
AND  ADDITIONAL  NOTES 

BY  EDWARD   EVERETT  HALE,  JR.,  PH.  D. 

Professor  of  English  in  Union  College 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

Boston  :  4  Park  Street ;    New  York  :  85  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago :  37S-388  Wabaih  Avenue 

ftitoewiDe  pec??,  Cambribge 


' 


Copyright,  1883  and  1905, 
BY  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


INTRODUCTION 

Henry  V  was  first  presented  in  the  summer  of 
1599.  This  we  may  infer  from  certain  lines  in  the 
Prologue  to  Act  V.  Chorus  has  been  telling  of  the 
welcome  of  the  King  to  London  after  Agin-  Date  oi  the 
court ;  he  goes  on  —  play- 

"  As,  by  a  lower  but  loving  likelihood, 
Were  now  the  general  of  our  gracious  empress, 
As  in  good  time  he  may,  from  Ireland  coming, 
Bringing  rebellion  broached  on  his  sword, 
How  many  would  the  peaceful  city  quit, 
To  welcome  him !  ' ' 

"  The  general  of  our  gracious  empress"  was  the  Earl 
of  Essex,  who  went  to  Ireland  in  the  spring  of  1599 
and  returned  in  the  fall. 

The  date  of  a  play  is  not  in  itself  a  matter  of  very 
great  importance,  yet  it  is  of  interest  here.  We  know 
from  the  date  that  this  play  followed  the  two  parts 
of  Henry  IV,  making  with  them  a  trilogy  of  which 
Henry  the  Fifth  was  the  hero.  Henry  VI,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  written  a  good  while  before  and  has  no  con- 
nection with  our  play.  We  know  from  the  date,  too, 
that  Henry  V  was  the  last  of  the  historical  plays,  ex- 
cepting Henry  VIII,  which  is  a  play  of  a  different 
kind.  We  know  it  to  belong  to  a  period  about  the 
same  as  the  strong  and  joyous  comedies,  As  You  Like 
It,  Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  Twelfth  Night,  and  just 
before  the  tragedies  of  Julius  Ccesar  and  Hamlet. 
We  know  Shakespeare's  general  temper  and  disposi- 
tion while  he  was  writing  the  play :  it  was  the  time 

221861 


4  INTRODUCTION 

when  he  was  beginning  to  make  a  success  in  a  business 
way.  Certainly  we  could  read  the  play  intelligently  or 
enjoy  it  on  the  stage  without  knowing  these  things  ; 
still  it  does  add  to  our  appreciation  of  the  strong 
soldier-king  to  remember,  for  instance,  that  Shake- 
speare drew  his  figure  just  before  he  imagined  Brutus 
and  Hamlet,  those  two  so  much  greater  and  weaker. 
One  does  not  want  to  give  too  much  stress  to  the  date 
of  a  play,  but  a  recollection  of  it  often  helps  one  at  a 
pinch.  Thus  one  of  the  catchwords  of  Nym  in  the 
play  is  "  That 's  the  humour  of  it."  Humour  is  such 
an  important  Elizabethan  word  that  one  ought  to 
look  it  up  a  little,  but  without  further  study  Nym's 
constant  use  of  it  in  the  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor 
(I,  iii)  is  almost  sufficient  comment  on  his  use  in 
this  play.  As  the  Merry  Wives  was  written  about 
the  same  time  as  Henry  V  (before,  unless  Falstaff, 
Bardolph,  and  Nym  are  all  brought  to  life  for  the 
occasion),  we  see  that  Nym  was  using  a  popular  catch- 
word, or  one  associated  with  his  character.  Both  in  a 
large  way  and  in  a  smaller,  then,  a  knowledge  of  the 
date  may  help  us.  Fortunately  it  is  something  that 
we  may  learn  with  very  little  trouble,  for  so  many  stu- 
dents have  looked  into  these  matters  that  the  results 
are  open  to  anybody. 

The  sources  of  this  play  are,  as  in  the  case  of  most 
of  the  histories,  entirely  clear.  Shakespeare  took  the 
narrative  of  the  chronicler  Holinshed 1  as  a  basis. 
Sources  oi  Shakespeare  often  followed  his  authority 
the  play.  verv  closely  ;  sometimes  in  facts,  as  in  I,  i, 
1 ;  I,  i,  75  ;  III,  vi,  40  ;  sometimes  in  words,  as  in  II, 
iv,  102  ;  III,  vi,  164  ;  V,  ii,  341 ;  sometimes  in  names, 

1  Raphael  Holinshed  compiled  the  Chronicles-  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  which  were  published  in  1578. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

as  III,  v,  40.  Those  who  study  dramatic  construction 
will  notice  a  number  of  points  of  interest  in  comparing 
the  play  with  the  sources.  Thus,  Shakespeare  shortens 
up  the  matter :  from  the  play  one  gets  the  idea  that 
Act  V,  with  the  negotiations  for  peace,  follows  directly 
after  the  battle  of  Agincourt.  But  really  the  Treaty 
of  Troyes  was  five  years  after  Agincourt,  and  in  that 
time  there  was  a  whole  campaign  in  France  of  which 
Shakespeare  says  nothing.  That  would  not  have  done 
on  the  stage.  Shakespeare  wanted  to  give  a  striking 
picture  of  a  glorious  campaign  ;  so  he  gives  merely  the 
cause  of  war,  the  victory,  and  the  peace.  Absolute 
historic  accuracy  is  something  too  complicated  to  pre- 
sent on  the  stage. 

The  language,  also,  of  this  play,  as  of  every  play  of 
Shakespeare's,  is  something  we  must  pay  attention  to. 
In  a  general  way  everybody  that  reads  English  can 
understand  Shakespeare ;  still  three  centuries 
have  made  changes  in  language.  Some  of 
Shakespeare's  words  are  now  out  of  use.  These  we 
must  know,  nor  is  it  a  great  task  to  learn  them.  But 
there  are  others  which  are  a  little  more  difficult, 
namely,  words  that  are  not  obsolete  in  form,  but  which 
had  then  a  meaning  different  from  the  modern  one. 
There  are  sometimes  a  good  many  such  words.  Thus 
in  Act  II,  Scene  ii :  — 

by  and  by,  1.  2       =  at  once 
enlarge,  1.  40          =  set  at  liberty 
distemper,  1.  54      =  drunkenness 
dear,  11.  58,  181     =  extreme 
quick,  1.  79  =  alive 

practis'd  on,  1.  99  =  cheated 
admiration,  1.  108  =  wonder 
instance,  1.  119       =  motive 
discover'd,  1.  151   =  laid  open 
rub,  1.  188  =  obstacle 


6  INTRODUCTION 

Here  are  a  number  of  words  that  every  one  knows. 
But  if  we  pass  over  them  without  thought,  we  shall 
miss  a  full  understanding  of  the  passages  where  they 
occur.  So  one  must  put  some  study  upon  Shake- 
speare's language,  the  meanings  of  his  words,  and  his 
grammatical  constructions. 

There  are  other  lines  of  Shakespearean  study  which 
are  most  interesting.  The  text  of  any  play  offers 
problems  that  must  be  solved  by  somebody,  if  we 
Lines  oi  are  to  know  what  Shakespeare  really  wrote. 
ferSfby"  ^he  metre  always  offers  some  difficulties 
the  play.  fa^.  cannot  be  settled,  as  most  can,  by  a 
good  ear  and  a  habit  of  reading  poetry.  There  are  a 
number  of  allusions  to  things  common  in  Shakespeare's 
day  but  unfamiliar  now.  Thus,  when  Pistol  spoke  of 
"  plain-song  "  (III,  ii,  7)  he  was  talking  of  something 
familiar  to  every  one ;  so  was  the  boy  when  he  called 
Pistol  "this  roaring  devil  i'  th'  old  play  "  (IV,  iv,  73). 
There  are  a  number  of  ideas  that  may  be  found  else- 
/  where  in  literature :  thus,  the  long  speech  describing 
Uhe  polity  of  the  bees  (I,  ii,  183-220)  has  a  parallel 
/in  Lyly's  Euphues,  and  the  two  passages  open  a  very 
Interesting  line  of  literary  history,  namely,  ideas  of 
nature  in  our  older  literature.  And  there  are  endless 
other  lines  of  interesting  literary  study  in  this,  as  in 
ivery  other  play  of  Shakespeare's. 

But  it  would  be  a  mistake  if  we  should  allow  our- 
selves to  be  distracted  by  these  things,  interesting  or 
necessary  as  they  are,  from  an  appreciation  and  en- 
The  poetic  joyment  of  the  poetry,  —  of  the  play  itself . 
maS^ter-  Some  of  these  things,  as  the  language  and 
the  text,  are,  while  we  are  studying  litera- 
ture, only  means  to  an  end.  The  language  of  Shake- 
speare, as  of  any  other  Elizabethan,  is  an  interesting 


INTRODUCTION  1 

matter  for  the  student  of  language  to  work  upon.  It 
is  a  proper  subject  for  linguistic  study,  just  as  the 
language  of  a  nation  is ;  and  the  student  need  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  poetry  if  he  be  so  inclined. 
But  the  student  of  literature  has  a  very  different 
object,  and  with  him  the  language  is  only  a  means 
to  the  end.  So  is  study  of  the  text.  Other  matters 
may  have  an  independent  interest  to  the  student  of 
literature :  he  may  wish  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  the 
mind  of  Shakespeare,  of  the  spirit  of  the  Elizabethan 
Age,  of  the  development  of  the  drama.  Those  are 
parts  of  the  history  of  literature  and  good  matters  for 
study.  But  language  and  the  history  of  literature, 
though  connected  with  poetry,  are  matters  very  differ- 
ent from  poetry.  So  if  our  aim  is  poetry,  we  shall 
want  particularly  to  gain  from  the  play  true  poetic 
enjoyment.  And  this  will  depend  in  a  measure  on  our 
temperament  and  our  taste.  We  may  like  poetry  and 
read  it  eagerly ;  we  may  not  care  for  it  and  prefer  to 
read  something  else.  But  whatever  our  taste  and 
whatever  our  temperament,  there  is  something  more 
than  pure  enjoyment  in  the  matter.  As  with  every 
art,  indeed  every  game,  we  need  some  knowledge. 
We  want  to  know  what  Shakespeare  was  aiming  at. 
There  are  many  kinds  of  poetry :  we  are  quite  accus- 
tomed to  some ;  but  in  poetry  of  an  older  time  espe- 
cially, there  are  often  conditions  or  circumstances  that, 
if  knowr^  will  give  us  the  true  spirit  of  the  piece,  which 
we  might  otherwise  have  missed.  Now 'Henry  Vis  an 
interesting  play  to  read  because  it  gives  us  an  excel- 
lent example  of  one  characteristic  of  the  Elizabethan 
drama,  namely,  the  rhetoncjJjg^uality.  It  gives  usjthis— 
more  fully  than  any  other  play  of  Shakespeare's  and 
it  gives  it  to  us  with  less  admixture  of  other  things. 


8  INTRODUCTION 

And  this  quality  is  one  of  which  we  do  not  have  much 
on  the  stage  to-day,  and  which  we  are  therefore  likely 
not  to  appreciate  wholly  in  reading  or  seeing  an  Eliza- 
bethan play. 

The  rhetorical  quality  of  the  Elizabethan  drama  was 
a  result  or  a  necessity  of  the  character  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan theatre.  Every  one  knows  that  the  theatre 

Rhetorical     in  which  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  were  ori- 

quality  ol  ..  J 

the  Eliza-     ginally    given  was  very  ditterent  from  the 

.drama.         theatres  in  which  we  may  see  them  to-day.1 
/    The  stage  was  in  the  midst  of  the  audience  ;  a  part  of 
the  audience  even  sat  upon  the  stage  itself.    There- 
fore scenery  or  even  any  careful   grouping  of  char- 
acters was  impossible.    The  actors  advanced  into  the 
midst  of  the  audience,  made  their  speeches,  and  re- 
tired.   There  was   no  front  curtain,   and  the  scenes 
followed  each   other   directly  or  were    separated   by 
music  or  comic  business.    Further  we  may  note  that 
these  actors  on  a  stage  without  scenery  were  not  cos- 
tumed with  historic  accuracy.   There  were  differences 
in  costume,  it  is  true ;  different  ranks  were  indicated 
and  some  other  distinctions,  but  there  was  no  effort 
to  reproduce  the  real  spectacle  of  the  stirring  events 
that  form  the   subject  of  the    play.     We    ourselves 
might  say  as  much  as  this  from  our  general  know- 
ledge of  the  Elizabethan  stage,  but  we  have  it  also 
stated  directly  by  Chorus  in  the  Prologue  to  Act  I. 
/'The  appeal  was  not  to  the  eye  but  to  the  imagination 
J    I    of   the  audience ;    and  it  was  made   by  stirring  and 
p^  spirited  verse,  well  pronounced  by  the  actor.    How 
c<  important  a  good  elocution  and  delivery  was  we  may 

1  A  summary  of  the  conditions  of  the  Elizabethan  theatre  may 
be  found  in  the  edition  of  The  Tempest  in  the  Riverside  Litera? 
ture  Series. 


INTRODUCTION 


« 


see  from  Hamlet's  speech  to  the  Players  :  there  he  is 
giving  advice  on  the  actor's  art,  but  he  hardly  men- 
tions anything  but  elocution. 

Thus  a  Shakespearean  play  was  more  to  be  listened 
to  than  to  be  seeiu  Since  realism  was  impossible,  the 
dramatist  was  forced  to  use  other  means.  And  the 
audience,  it  will  be  remembered,  could  not  Needoj 
read,  as  our  audiences  do  to-day.  Even 
among  the  upper  classes  reading  was  not  so 
general  as  it  is  now.  Probably  few  of  Shakespeare's 
audience  read  much  poetry.  They  heard  poetry  at  the 
theatre,  and  for  many  of  them  that  was  the  only  way 
to  get  it  at  all.  This  was  another  reason  why  a  de- 
clamatory style  prevailed.  So  the  Elizabethan  stage 
tended  more  to  poetry  than  ours  does,  and  particularly 
to  poetry  which  could  be  readily  and  effectually  de- 
claimed. 

As  has  already  been  said,  this  rhetorical  poetry  is, 
found  more  purely,  as  we  may  say,  in  Henry  V  than 
in  the  other  plays.    It  is  th^  fr^pp  of  f,|ig  play,  *>>*>  qnnl. 
ity  it  is  noteworthy  for.    All  Shakespeare's  Rhetorical 
plays  have  something  of  it,  but  many  of  them  Henry  v. 
are    especially   noteworthy   for    other   things.     Some 
are  remarkable  for  character,  like  Hamlet;  many  for 
humor,  like  Henry  IV;  or  wit,  like  As  You  Like 
It;  some  for  passiojiA_Jike-JS'QmeQ  and  Juliet,  ;    some 

Nihtie  Iheam  ;  and 


_ 

some  are  interesting  for  dramatic  construction,  like  the 
Merchant  of  Venice.    Henry  V  is  not  without  these 
characteristics,  but    it  has  none   of  them  to  a  very 
striking  degree.     The  characters  of  the  play  are  ap-    \  / 
propriate  and  natural,  —  Henry  himself  is  a  fine  pic-       / 
ture  of  Shakespeare's  ideal  king,  —  but  there  are  a 
hundred  characters  in  the  other  plays  better  than  the         \ 


10  INTRODUCTION 

best  in  this.  There  are  bits  of  humor,  doubtless,  and 
excellent  of  their  kind.  Ejuellen  is  a  humorous  char- 
acter that  a  lesser  dramatist  might  be  proud  of,  but  we 
do  not  think  of  him  as  in  the  same  group  with  Falstaff, 
Sir  Toby  Belch,  the  First  Gravedigger,  Touchstone, 
and  many  more.  And  so  it  is  with  the  other  char- 
acteristics :  we  generally  find  something  of  them  in 
Henry  V,  but  not  something  to  compare  with  Shake- 
speare's best. 

With  the  rhetorical  quality  it  is  not  so.  There  are, 
without  question,  finer  sustained  speeches  in  Shake- 
speare than  anything  in  Henry  V.  Any  one  who 
?eeo£esd  l°ves  poetry  and  who  wants  to  form  a  taste 
in  Shake-  will  do-  well  to  compare  some  of  the  famous 

SP63T6  S 

plays.  long  speeches  in  Shakespeare.  We  will  note 
a  few  of  the  best  known. 

Antony  to  the  Roman  Crowd.     Julius  Ccesar,  III,  ii,  69  ff. 

Hamlet's  Soliloquies.  Hamlet,  I,  ii,  129  ff. ;  II,  ii,  518  ff. ;  III,  i, 
56  ff. ;  IV,  iv,  32. 

Jaques'  "  All  the  World  's  a  Stage."  As  You  Like  It,  II,  vii, 
138  ff. 

Othello  to  the  Senators.     Othello,  I,  iii,  76  ff. 

Richard  Ill's  Soliloquy.    Richard  III,  I,  i,  1  ff. 

Portia  :  "  The  Quality  of  Mercy."  Merchant  of  Venice,  IV,  i,  178  ff. 

Mercutio  on  Queen  Mab.     Romeo  and  Juliet,  I,  iv,  53  ff. 

Enobarbus's  account  of  Cleopatra.  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  II,  ii, 
190  ff. 

These  every  one  will  recognize  as  fine  bits  of  declam- 
/  atory  poetry  of  different  kinds,  of  poetical  rhetoric, 
we  may  call  it.  And  in  reading  Henry  V  we  shall  see 
at  once  that  we  have  much  poetry  of  the  same  sort. 
In  fact,  if  one  reads  the  play  with  this  point  in  mind, 
he  will  see  that  Henry's  address  to  his  soldiers  (III, 
i,  1  ff.),  or  Exeter's  account  of  the  death  of  the  Duke 
of  York  (IV,  vi,  7  ff.),  or  the  archbishop's  account  of 
he  King  (I,  i,  24  ff.)  are  very  characteristic  pieces. 


0: 
tl 


INTRODUCTION  11 

They  give  us  the  quality  of  Henry  V ;  they  are  full 
of  the  spirit  of  the  play.  In  fact,  the  play  would  not 
be  itself  without  them. 

To  see  now  how  characteristic  of  Henry  V  are 
such  passages,  think  of  some  extracts  from  character- 
other  plays.  From  Hamlet,  for  instance :  —  tfesV11 

plays. 

Guildenstern.    Prison,  my  lord  ! 

Hamlet.    Denmark  's  a  prison. 

Rosencranz.    Then  is  the  world  one. 

Hamlet.   A  goodly  one  ;   in  which  there  are  many  confines,  wards 
and  dungeons,  Denmark  being-  one  o'  the  worst. 

Rosencranz,    We  think  not  so,  my  lord. 

Hamlet.   Why  then,  't  is  none  to  you  ;   for  there  's  nothing  either 
good  or  bad,  but  thinking  makes  it  so  :  to  me  it  is  a  prison. 

That  is  characteristic  of  Hamlet ;  it  gives  us  charac- 
ter and  philosophy ;  we  do  not  need  the  proper  names 
to  tell  us  where  it  comes  from.  But  we  have  nothing 
of  this  in  Henry  V. 

To  take  something  from  Romeo  and  Juliet :  — 

Juliet.    Wilt  thou  be  gone  ?  it  is  not  yet  near  day  : 
It  was  the  nightingale,  and  not  the  lark, 
That  pierced  the  fearful  hollow  of  thine  ear ; 
Nightly  she  sings  on  yon  pomegranate-tree  : 
Believe  me,  love,  it  was  the  nightingale. 

That  has  the  note  of  passion  which  is  characteristic 
of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  and  this  is  lacking,  too,  in 
Henry  V. 

Take  something  from  A  Midsummer  NigM  s  Dream: 

Titania.   Be  kind  and  courteous  to  this  gentleman ; 
Hop  in  his  walks,  and  gambol  in  his  eyes ; 
Feed  him  with  apricocks  and  dewberries, 
With  purple  grapes,  green  figs,  and  mulberries  ; 
The  honey-bags  steal  from  the  humble-bees, 
And  for  night-tapers  crop  their  waxen  thighs, 
And  light  them  at  the  fiery  glow-worm's  eyes, 
To  have  my  love  to  bed  and  to  arise  ; 
And  pluck  the  wings  from  painted  butterflies, 
To  fan  the  moonbeams  from  his  sleeping  eyes : 
Nod  to  him,  elves,  and  do  him  courtesies. 


12  INTRODUCTION 

That  has  the  fancy  and  the  poetry  that  we  associate 
with  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

And  finally  take  something  from  Henry  IV:  — 

Falstaff.   My  lord,  the  man  I  know. 

Prince  Henry.    I  know  thou  dost. 

Falstaff.  But  to  say  I  know  more  harm  in  him  than  in  myself, 
were  to  say  more  than  I  know.  That  he  is  old,  the  more  the  pity,  his 
white  hairs  do  witness  it.  ...  If  sack  and  sugar  be  a  fault,  God  help 
the  wicked  !  If  to  be  old  and  merry  be  a  sin,  then  many  an  old  host 
that  I  know  is  damned  :  if  to  be  fat  is  to  be  hated,  then  Pharaoh's 
lean  kine  are  to  be  loved,  etc. 

That  has  the  humor  of  Falstaff  and  is  full  of  the 
spirit  of  the  whole  piece.  Passages  like  these  are 
characteristic  of  the  plays  they  come  from  ;  they  give 
a  taste  of  their  quality.  We  might  almost  say  there 
is  nothing  like  them  in  Henry  V ;  at  least  the  chief 
characteristic  of  Henry  V  is  very  different  from  any 
of  them. 

/  We  have  here  then  a  striking  characteristic  of 
/the  poetry  of  our  play.  It  is  rhetorical,  declamatory 
poetry.  It  is,  in  the  main,  spirited,  vigorous,  sonorous, 
Character-  moving  poetry.  If  it  has  nothing  quite  so 
oi  Henry  v.  fine  as  the  finest  of  Shakespeare's  declama- 
tory passages,  yet  it  has  much  that  surely  is  very  fine. 
We  shall  not  suppose  that  Henry  V  is  peculiar  in 
this  respect.  We  have  seen  that  the  rhetorical  char- 
acter was  a  dramatic  quality  of  the  time  ;  all  plays 
Rhetorical  had  something  of  it.  It  was  particularly 

common  to    common  in  the  historical  plays,  the  chronicles 

all  the  his-       „     a,    ,  ,     ,  . 

tories.          of    Shakespeare    and    his    contemporaries. 

It  was  most  natural  that  this  should  be  the  case. 
These  plays  were  generally  meant  to  present  some  epi- 
sode of  English  history  in  such  a  way  as  would  appeal 
strongly  to  an  English  audience.  Character,  humor, 
passion,  philosophy,  charm,  —  these  things  by  the 


INTRODUCTION  13 

nature  of  the  case  could  not  be  the  main  thing  in  such 
playsX  The  main  thing  was  to  appeal  to  the  patriotic 
pride  that  in  Elizabeth's  day  ran  strong  in  the  heart 
of  every  Englishman.  "'And  this  was  to  be  done,  under 
the  circumstances  of  the  theatre,  not,  as  would  be  the 
case  to-day,  with  the  aid  of  elaborate  costume  and 
scenery,  but  simply  by  heightened  and  ennobled  speech. 
The  best  of  Shakespeare's  plays  are  full  of  it,  but 
he  was  not  the  inventor  of  it.  Marlowe  may  have  the 
credit  —  more,  at  least,  than  any  one  else  —  for  elabo- 
rate theatrical  rhetoric,  though  his  chief  play,  Tam- 
burlaine  the  Great,  is  not  an  English  chronicle  play. 
His  Edward  II  is  almost  as  much  a  declamatory  piece 
as  Tamburlaine,  though  it  lacks  the  long  set  speeches ; 
and  so  is  Richard  //,  in  which  Shakespeare  seems  to 
have  been  influenced  by  Marlowe's  way  of  writing. 
For  the  purpose  of  poetic  appreciation,  however,  we 
need  not  know  whether  Shakespeare  invented  or  fol- 
lowed ;  the  main  thing  is  that  we  should  get  to  know 
and  appreciate  the  quality  which  Henry  V  presents 
more  purely  than  the  other  historical  plays. 

It  is  easy,  of  course,  to  look  through  the  play,  read 
the  elaborate  speeches,  and  recognize  their  rhetorical 
character.  It  may  not  be  so  easy  to  enjoy  them.  If, 
however,  we  would  really  appreciate  the  Apprecja_ 
Elizabethan  drama,  we  must  get  to  feel  at 
home  in  this  rhetorical  declamatory  world. 
It  will  be  useful,  then,  to  note  the  chief  examples  of 
this  poetic  rhetoric  and  remark  what  seems  most  im- 
portant about  each. 

First,  for  various  reasons,  may  come  the  so-called 
choruses.    The  chorus  was  a  traditional  fea-  The 
Ture  in  tlie  drama  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.   Choruses- 
There  it  served  various  purposes,  but  it  was  especially 


14  INTRODUCTION 

a  means  whereby  the  dramatist  could  speak  directly 
to  the  audience.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  to  use  it  to 
give  in  narrative  an  account  of  things  that  could  not 
well  be  presented  by  the  actors.  It  was  common  also 
in  those  plays  before  Shakespeare  which  were  written 
with  classic  models  in  mind.  Thus  Gorboduc,  written 
about  1565  by  Sackville  and  Norton,  is  not  unlike  a 
Latin  tragedy,  and  indeed  is,  in  its  dramatic  charac- 
ter, directly  imitated  from  Seneca.  It  has  a  regular 
chorus  between  the  acts.  But  so  has  the  Spanish 
Tragedy,  by  Thomas  Kyd,  which  is  not  at  all  classic 
in  its  general  character.  Shakespeare,  as  a  rule,  does 
not  use  the  chorus.  Sometimes  he  has  a  prologue, 
as  in  Henry  VIII,  or  an  epilogue,  as  in  the  second 
part  of  Henry  IV.  In  Henry ^JFjher^^re^choruses 
betwjiejLJ^^cts^a^le^^  In 

Pericles  there  are  choruses  between  the  acts  and  also 
in  the  middle  of  Acts  IV  and  V.  In  Romeo  and  Juliet 
Shakespeare  may  have  meant  to  have  choruses  be- 
tween the  acts,  but  actually  there  is  only  a  prologue, 
and  a  chorus  between  Acts  I  and  II.  Generally  Shake- 
speare accomplishes  the  purpose  of  the  chorus  in  some 
other  way.  The  chorus,  however,  is  very  appropriate 
to  the  rhetorical  character  of  the  English  historical 
play,  and  perhaps  Shakespeare  had  something  of  the 
sort  in  mind  when  he  planned  Henry  V.  It  is  worth 
mentioning  that  so  great  a  Shakespearean  actor  as 
David  Garrick  chose  the  part  of  Chorus  when  he  pre- 
sented Henry  V.  He  understood  that  the  character- 
istic quality  of  the  play  was  its  sonorous  trumpet- 
flourish,  and  that  this  quality  inhered  essentially  in  the 
choruses.  It  is  also  worth  noting  that  when  Mr.  Mans- 
field presented  the  play  in  New  York,  Chorus  was 
so  presented  as  to  attract  everybody,  indeed  astonish 


INTRODUCTION  15 

everybody  by  its  appreciation  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
part. 

than 


matters  that  cannot  be^pr^sjn^e^Ldiamatically.  Such 
areTn  the  main  tluT  prologues  to  Acts  II,  III,  IVy. 
V.  But  they  also  point  out  particularly  the  Function  oi 

J  .  -—*~~  —  JLT~  '--  the  Chorus 

dramatic  means  of  whicb^thev_are_so  im-_  in  Henry  v. 
porlanJL_a_Jpai-t.  Thus  the  prologue  to  Act  I  urges 
the  audience  to  take  the  play  as  a  stimulus  to  the 
imagination  rather  than  as  an  adequate  reproduction 
of  what  has  taken  place.  So  in  the  prologues  to  Act  III, 
11.  33,  34;  IV,  11.  49-53  ;  V,  1-6.  These  show  us  the 
mood  in  which  we  must  put  ourselves  to  appreciate  the 
play.  We  must  not  expect  a  realistic  truth  to  nature;' 
let  us  rather  be  ready  to  be  inspired  and  aroused  by 
imaginative  language.  In  their  narrative  parts  these 
choruses  are  fine  examples  of  declamatory  poetry  ;  in 
the  rest  they  form  an  admirable  criticism  upon  the 
poetry  which  gives  the  main  quality  to  the  play. 

Other  long  speeches  in  Shakespeare  are  of  two  kinds. 
Some  are  what  might  be  called  elaborations  of  general 
themes.  They  are  entirely  appropriate  to  their  places  in 
the  play,  but  they  are  not  really  necessary  to  other  sus- 
it  as  they  stand;  they  have  quite  an  inde-  speeches. 
pendent  interest.  Taken  from  their  places  they  are 
almost  as  effective  as  they  are  in  their  places.  Such 
speeches,  for  instance,  are  the  well-known  "  All  the 
world  's  a  stage,"  or  Mercutio's  fantasia  on  Queen 
Mab,  or  Falstaffs  disquisitions  on  honor  or  on  sack 
in  Henry  IV. 

Of  this  kind  in  Henry  V  are  :  — 

1.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's  spirited  independent 
description  of  the  Polity  of  the  Bees,  I,  ii,  183-  s»eeclies- 
213.  The  speech  is  a  development  of  the  last  words  of 


16  INTRODUCTION 

Exeter's  speech.  But  those  words  were  but  a  reflection 
added  to  his  approval  of  Westmoreland's  opinion.  The 
long  descriptive  speech  of  the  Archbishop  has  there- 
fore no  dramatic  necessity.  The  last  few  lines  belong 
to  the  situation,  but  the  rest  is  one  of  those  pieces 
ofppHticals^cjul^tion,  of  which  there  are  many  in 
Elizabethan  literature.  It  may  be  compared  with 
Gonzalo's  speculation  in  The  Tempest,  II,  i,  141  ff. 

2.  The  King's  fine  exclamation  on  ceremony,  IV, 
i,  229-283.    This  speech  is  entirely  appropriate,  en- 
tirely characteristic  of  the  honest  and  straightforward 
man  who  utters  it.   But  it  certainly  does  not  belong  in 
any  special  way  just  where  it  stands.    The  really  im- 
portant idea  is  not  that  of  ceremony,  but  of  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  King  for  those  whom  he  commands, 
as  is  indicated  in  11.  229-232.    That  is  the  idea  that 
explains  the  King's  whole  attitude.    The  transition  to 
the  topic  of  ceremony  (11.  232—238)  is  natural,  how- 
ever, and  the  speech  is  a  fine  one. 

3.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy's  description  of  France, 
V,  ii,  23—67.    This  speech  stands  in  closer  connection 
with  the  rest  of  the  scene  than  the  others.    Still*  its 
main  interest  is  rhetorical  rather  than  dramatic. 

4.  The  Archbishop's  description  of  the  King,  I,  i, 
24-59.    Quite  appropriate  to  its  place  in  the  play  as 
this  speech  is,  setting  the  key  of  general  reflection,  yet 
it  is  really  an  independent   thing;   having,  as    Mr. 
White  remarks  in  his  note,  no  basis  in  fact,  it  has  not 
much  more  in  the  situation  whence  it  arises. 

Here  also  we  may  perhaps  put  the  soliloquy  of  the 
Less  inde-  Boy  (III,  ii,  26-54)  and  the  argument  on 
lw£L  the  King's  responsibility  (IV,  i,  146-184), 
though  these  have  rather  more  connection  with 
their  places.  Still  that  their  interest  is  really  in- 


INTRODUCTION*  17 

dependent  of  their  dramatic  place  will  be  seen  on 
comparing  them  with  the  speeches  of  the  second 
kind. 

The  speeches  of  the  second  kind  are  those  that 
arise  more  exactly  from  the  dramatic  situa-  More  drama 
tion.  Such  are  :  -  tic  speeches. 

The  Archbishop's  Explanation  of  the  Salic  Law.  I,  ii,  33-95. 

Henry's  Answer  to  the  Dauphin.   I,  ii,  259-297. 

Henry's  Accusation  of  the  Conspirators.    II,  ii,  79-144. 

Henry  to  his  Army  at  Harfleur.    Ill,  i,  1-34. 

Henry  to  the  Governor  of  Harfleur.    Ill,  iii,  1-43. 

Henry  to  Montjoy.    Ill,  vi,  142-169. 

Henry  before  the  Battle.    IV,  iii,  18-67. 

Henry  to  Montjoy.    IV,  iii,  90-125. 

Exeter's  Description  of  the  Death  of  the  Duke  of  York.  IV,  vi.  7-32. 

Henry  to  Katharine.  V,  ii,  132-168. 

These  speeches,  though  more  dramatic  than  those  just 
mentioned,  are  still  examples  of  rhetorical  poetry. 
They  are  meant  for  delivery,  they  are  speeches  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  and  as  such  they  are  ex- 
tremely characteristic  of  the  play  and  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan stage.  Let  us  then  read  them  in  the  spirit  in 
which  they  were  written,  as  elaborate,  sonorous,  theatri- 
cal declamation. 

If  we  are  to  appreciate  Henry  V  we  must  appreci- 
ate this  kind  of  poetry.    It  is  not  much  in  fashion  to- 
day, at  least  on  the  English  stage :    our  dramatists 
avoid  long  speeches  and  our  actors  neglect  msappear- 
the  elocution  necessary  to  deliver  them.   We  rhetorical 
lay  stress  on  very  different   matters :    our  from  the 
theatre  appeals  to  the  eye  almost  as  much  as  Sage"1 
to   the   ear ;  our  aim   is  to  be  realistic  rather   than 
imaginative.   But  in  reading  Henry  V  we  must  accus- 
tom ourselves  to  this  rhetorical  poetry,  for  it  is  the 
most  striking  element  of  the  play. 


18  INTRODUCTION 

A  few  words  may  be  added  on  some  other  points. 
The  subject-matter  of  the   play  Shakespeare  found, 

Construe-  as  has  been  noted,  in  the  pages  of  Holin- 
tlonof  .  ..  „,.  ,  .  i.i 

Henry v.       shed.      Without   comparing  the    play   with 

the  chronicle,  it  will  be  useful  to  make  a  sum- 
mary of  the  dramatic  action,  both  in  gerferal  and  in 
detail.  V_ 

The  dramatic  action  here  has  a  more  obvious  unity 
than  in  some  other  of  Shakespeare's  histories.  It  is 
always  worth  while,  however,  to  try  to  state  the  sub- 
Dramatic  stance  of  the  dramatic  motive  of  any  of  his 
action  of  the 
play.  plays  in  a  few  words,  to  uncover  the  mam 

idea  from  the  externals  in  which  it  is  presented,  to  get 
a  good  notion  of  the  true  unity  of  the  play.  The  dra- 
matic action  of  Henry  Fmay  be  stated  very  shortly  as 
follows. 

«^rlenry  the  Fifth  declares  war  upon  France  to  make 
good  the  claims  upon  that  country  which  he  had  in- 
herited from  Edward  the  Third.  He  gathers  an  army 
Argument  an(^  makes  a  brilliant  beginning  in  the  cap- 
oi  the  play.  ture  of  Harfleur.  Tin  marching  from  that 
town  to  Calais  he  comes  up  with  the  main  army  of 
the  French  and  wins  a  glorious  and  decisive  victory 
at  Agincourt.  His  success  compels  peace,  in  which 
his  claims  are  recognized.  A  marriage  between  the 
Princess  Katharine  and  himself  is  arranged  as  a  pledge 
of  continued  good  feeling. 

f^^TThese  are  the  facts.    Dramatically,  however,  we  may 

say  that  Shakespeare's    purpose  was  to  present,  by 

means  of  this  glorious  achievement  of  English  arms, 

purpose  of     a  picture  of  ideal  kinghood  and  ideal  Eng- 

Jhe  play.       ijgh  character.    Thus  the  main  figures  will  be 

;  (Henry  himself  and  typical  figures  c"hosen  to  represent 
y  his  army  from  highest  to  lowest. 


INTRODUCTION  19 

We  may  go  further  in  stating  the  action  from  the 
dramatic  standpoint.   It  may  be  conveniently  Dramatic 

,  .  i      •    i  ,  develop- 

arranged  in  an  analysis  by  act  and  scene.         ment. 

Prologue.  An  apology  for  the  attempt  to  present  such  great  things 
with  such  small  means.  (See  p.  15.) 

Act  I.    The  Causes  of  the  War. 

Scene  i.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  a 
conversation  upon  the  interests  of  the  church,  disclose  the  position  of 
King  Henry  the  Fifth,  his  character  and  his  plans.  In  this  scene 
Shakespeare,  as  often  elsewhere,  introduces  the  main  dramatic  motive 
by  means  of  minor  characters  ;  so  he  has  done  in  Hamlet  and  Romeo 
and  Juliet,  though  not  in  all  the  plays. 

Scene  ii.  The  King  has  called  the  Archbishop  to  expound  the  law  to 
him  in  regard  to  the  claims  he  has  made  on  France.  Has  he  right  on 
his  side  when  he  makes  demand  of  the  French  King  to  be  recog- 
nized as  sovereign  of  Aquitaine,  Normandy,  Maine  and  Anjou,  under 
the  threat  that  he  will  otherwise  take  arms  to  enforce  his  claim  to 
the  throne  of  France  itself  ?  The  Archbishop  argues  at  length  that  he 
has  right  on  his  side.  War  is  determined  on  and  plans  are  made  for 
the  safety  of  the  kingdom  during  the  King's  absence.  The  French 
ambassadors  who  are  at  hand  are  summoned.  They  deliver  a  scornful 
message  from  the  French  heir  apparent  and  receive  a  declaration  of 
the  King's  purpose. 

Act  II.    Preparation  for  the  "War. 

Prologue.   All  England  is  stirred  to  excitement  in  preparation. 

Scene  i.  Even  the  old  blackguards  and  rascals  of  the  King's  earlier 
days  are  aroused.  Pistol,  Bardolph,  and  Nym  make  preparation  to 
join  the  army.  Falstaff  would  be  going  too,  but  word  comes  that  he 
is  dead.  This  is  one  of  the  humorous  scenes  that  Shakespeare  often 
sandwiches  in  between  the  serious  and  poetic  scenes. 

Scene  ii.  Before  the  King  leaves  England  all  must  be  safe  at  home. 
Henry  has  discovered  a  conspiracy  among  the  high  nobles  of  his  court. 
The  conspirators  are  arrested  and  sent  to  the  block,  and  the  King  is 
ready  to  start. 

Scene  Hi.   The  humorous  ruffians  are  seen  again. 

Scene  iv.  The  French  hear  of  Henry's  purpose.  There  is  a  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  what  action  shall  be  taken.  The  Dauphin  thinks  that 
the  nobility  of  France  have  but  to  show  themselves  to  drive  the 
English  from  their  country.  The  Constable  urges  that  the  matter 
is  of  more  importance.  The  Duke  of  Exeter,  Henry's  uncle  and 
representative,  is  introduced,  and  delivers  England's  demand  and  de- 
fiance. 


20  INTRODUCTION 

Act  m.   The  Campaign  in  France. 

Prologue.  Chorus  tells  of  the  embarkation  of  the  army  and  of 
England  left  behind. 

Scene  i.   Henry  leads  his  army  to  the  assault  of  Harfleur. 

Scene  t't.  The  humorous  ruffians  appear,  and  also  stalwart  represent- 
atives of  the  real  strength  of  King  Henry's  army,  Gower  the  English- 
man, Fluellen  the  Welshman,  Jamy  the  Scotchman,  and  Macmorris 
the  Irishman.  They  give  us  word  of  the  siege. 

Scene  Hi.  Henry  demands  the  surrender  of  the  town,  which  is 
conceded. 

Scene  iv.  In  the  French  King's  palace  the  Princess  Katharine  takes 
a  lesson  in  English.  There  is  question  of  her  marriage  with  Henry, 
and  she  wishes  to  prepare  for  any  fortune. 

Scene  v.  The  French  nobles  make  more  warlike  preparation  for 
meeting  the  English. 

Scene  vi.  The  English  army  on  its  march  to  Calais  comes  upon  the 
French  at  the  river  Ternois.  The  French  attempt  to  hold  a  bridge, 
but  the  English  capture  it.  The  French  Herald  bears  to  Henry  the 
defiance  of  the  French  King. 

Scene  vii.  The  French  nobles,  encamped  near  Agincourt,  long  for 
day,  that  they  may  attack  the  English. 

Act  IV.    The  Battle  of  Agincourt. 

Prologue.  Chorus  tells  of  the  night  before  Agincourt,  and  turns 
attention  especially  to  the  royal  captain  of  the  English  army. 

Scene  i.  Henry  passes  about  his  camp  in  disguise,  to  feel  the  spirit 
of  his  men  and  encourage  the  waverers.  We  see  all  ranks  and  kinds 
of  Englishmen :  the  lords,  the  captains,  and  the  private  men ;  the  brave 
and  the  boastful.  With  each  Henry  has  a  word,  pausing  especially, 
as  was  common  with  English  kings,  in  story  at  least,  to  talk  familiarly 
with  the  sturdy  yeomen.  In  fact,  he  gets  into  a  dispute  with  one  of 
them  and  leaves  a  glove  as  a  gage. 

Scene  ii.   The  French  prepare  for  battle. 

Scene  Hi.   The  English  prepare. 

Scene  iv.  The  battle  is  joined.  The  boaster  Pistol  falls  in  with  a 
Frenchman  whom  he  can  beat,  and  takes  him  prisoner.  This  humor- 
ous scene  is  almost  the  only  hint  we  get  of  the  battle  which  is  in 
progress ;  if  the  cowards  in  the  English  army  do  so  much,  what  must 
not  the  brave  do  ? 

Scene  v.   The  French  are  in  retreat. 

Scene  vi.  The  English  are  not  quite  sure  of  the  victory  they  have 
won. 

Scene  vii.  The  King  is  assured  of  his  victory  and  the  losses  of  the 
French.  He  gives  the  glory  to  God. 

Scene  viii.    The   half-humorous  incident  of  the  glove  is  taken  up 


INTRODUCTION  21 

from  Scene  i  and  finished.  The  King  takes  a  formal  account  of  the 
losses  of  the  French.  He  continues  his  march  to  Calais  and  returns 
to  England. 

Act  V.   Peace. 

Prologue.  Chorus  tells  us  of  Henry's  return  after  Agincourt,  of 
the  rejoicings  of  England,  and  of  negotiations  for  peace. 

Scene  i.  The  English  are  still  in  camp  in  France.  Captain  Fluellen 
shows  the  braggart  Pistol  in  his  true  colors. 

Scene  ii.  The  French  and  the  English  kings  meet  for  discussion  of 
terms  of  peace.  While  the  lords  and  commissioners,  on  either  side, 
discuss  the  details,  Henry  has  half  an  hour  with  the  Princess 
Katharine,  whose  hand  in  marriage  he  asks  now  after  the  war  as  he 
had  asked  it  before.  The  other  terms  are  agreed  upon  and  the  play 


Such  is  the  subject-matter  of  the  play.  Dramati- 
cally it  is  quite  clear  that  the  single  line  of  action 

comes  to  its  climax  in  the  Battle  of  Agin-  summary 
,    .  -,    ,  .....  oidevel- 

court,  and  is  composed  to  a  satisfying  issue  opment. 
in  the  declaration  of  peace  and  the  marriage  of  the 
King. 

We  may  state  the  topics  thus :  — 

Act  I.  Introduction  (Sc.  i)  and  explanation  (Sc.  ii)  of  the  main 
motive,  the  Campaign  in  France. 

Act  II.  Development  of  the  motive  :  preparation  for  the  Campaign. 
The  scenes  are  humorous  (Sc.  i,  iii)  and  serious  (Sc.  ii,  iv)  in  turn. 

Act  HI.  Continuation  of  the  motive :  the  Campaign.  The  Eng- 
lish are  successful  at  Harfleur  (Sc.  i,  ii,  iii)  and  the  bridge  of  Ternois 
(Sc.  vi),  but  the  French  have  gathered  in  force  at  Agincourt  (Sc.  vii). 

Act  IV.  The  climax  of  the  main  motive  :  the  Battle  of  Agincourt, 
the  Crowning  Point  of  the  Campaign.  We  have  the  Preparation  (Sc.  i, 
ii,  iii),  the  Field  of  Battle  (Sc.  iv),  and  the  Defeat  of  the  French  and 
Victory  of  the  English  (Sc.  v,  vi,  vii,  viii). 

Act  V.  Conclusion  of  the  motive  :  the  End  of  the  Campaign  (Sc.  i) 
and  the  Treaty  of  Peace  (Sc.  ii). 

This  is  a  simple  and  natural  dramatic  development. 
It  has  beginning,  continuation,  climax,  and  end.    It 
has  hardly  anything  that  can  be  called  an  Dramatic 
episode  :  (<even  III,  iv  has  close  enough  rela-  a 
tion  to  the  main  theme  to  be  called  a  part  of  it  ;^V,  i, 


22  INTRODUCTION 

perhaps,  has  least  to  do  with  the  main  action.  In  gen- 
eral the  different  acts  clearly  present  the  phases  of  the 
action.  There  are  two  or  three  points  which  are  not 
clear.  Why,  for  instance,  should  the  French  prepara- 
tion for  the  battle  be  in  Act  III  and  the  English  in 
Act  IV?  But  these  are  slight  matters ;  in  general  we 
may  say  that  we  have  a  single  action  developed  to  a 
crisis  and  brought  to  an  end,  and  a  far  more  simple 
and  regular  action  than  is  common  in  Shakespeare's 
histories.  The  different  periods  of  the  action  are 
marked  and  emphasized  by  the  prologues  to  the  acts, 
and  the  whole  motive  grows  steadily  in  the  mind  and 
comes  to  a  sufficient  close. 

If  we  look  to  another  important  element,  namely 
character,  we  shall  not  find  very  much  of  importance 
beside  the  figure  of  the  King  himself.  Henry  TV  had 

three  characters  that  were  interesting,  the 
Characters.    -^.  .  ' 

King,  the  Prince,  and  Hotspur,  besides  one 

of  the  very  first  order,  Falstaff.  But  in  the  later  play 
Henry  IV,  Hotspur,  and  Falstaff  are  dead  and  there 
are  none  to  fill  their  places.  The  English  and 
French  nobles  are  little  more  than  slightly  indicated 
lph  ami  Nym  are  survivals  only.  The 
only  real  characters  of  interest  beside  Henry  are  Flu- 
ellen  and  Pistol.  Of  Henry  V  not  much  need  be  said. 
As  is  indicated  in  the  Archbishop's  speech,  Shake- 
speare means  to  present  an  ideaLKing,  a  man  with 
faults,  but  perfectly  conscious  of  his  duties  and  using 
all  his  great  powers  to  fulfill  them.  Shakespeare  rarely 
drew  such  a  figure,  the  practical  man  of  action,  the 
kind  of  man  that  makes*  the  world  go.  Such  men  do 
not  give  such  good  material  for  the  drama  as  men  of 
greater  passions  and  greater  faults,. like  Eomeo,  Ham- 
let, Lear.  In  Theseus,  Shakespeare  seems  to  give  us 


INTRODUCTION  23 

a  glance  at  such  a  man,  in  Fortinbras  he  hints  at  him, 
but  in  Henry  V  only  does  he  present  him  fully. 

To  summarize,  then,  we  have  in  Henry  V  a  play  in 
which  the  action  is  simple  and  developed  without  re- 
finement or  complication,  in  which  .the  characters  are 

sufficient  and  whollv;in  harmony  with  the 

Summary, 
dramatic  motive,  but  whose  striking  quality 

is  the  sonorous  and  effective  poetic_rhetoric  in  which, 
as  in  the  note  of  a  trumpet,  presents  itself  this  dra- 
matic embodiment  of  English  greatness. 

The  performance  of  Henry  V  by  the  Ben  Greet 
company  of  players,  on  a  stage  of  the  Elizabethan 
fashion,  offered  an  interesting  confirmation  of  the  views 
just  expressed  of  the  rhetorical,  declamatory  character 
of  the  play.  This  performance  was  in  striking  con- 
trast with  the  elaborately  scenic  productions,  of  which 
there  have  been  several  in  recent  years.  The  stage 
was  a  plain  hall,  the  furnishings  were  of  the  simplest, 
the  costumes  were  of  the  Elizabethan  fashion  with  the 
addition  of  typical  pieces  of  armor :  realism  was,  in 
fact,  at  its  lowest  point.  Yet  under  these  circum- 
stances, in  fact,  because  of  them,  the  poetry  in  the 
piece  showed  itself  at  its  true  worth.  There  were  no 
pauses  between  the  acts  and  the  fine  poetic  rhetoric 
rolled  on  with  the  effect  on  the  imagination  that  a 
noble  panorama  would  have  made  on  the  eye.  With 
everything  taken  away  that  belongs  especially  to  a 
modern  performance,  the  intrinsic  quality  of  the  play 
was  easily  seen  and  readily  appreciated. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

IT  may  be  serviceable  to  add  a  few  of  the  most  avail- 
able helps  to  one  who  would  not  only  enjoy  Shake- 
speare, but  study  so  that  one  may  enjoy  the  better. 
In  general,  Dowden's  Shakespere  Primer  presents  a 
great  deal  in  a  very  convenient  form.  The  best  gen- 
eral book  is  Mabie's  William  Shakespeare.  The  best 
biography  is  that  by  Sidney  Lee.  Most  suggestive  of 
the  studies  of  the  growth  of  Shakespeare's  genius  is 
Dowden's  Shakespere:  His  Mind  and  Art.  The  aids 
to  linguistic  study  are  Bartlett's  Concordance  to 
Shakespeare,  Schmidt's  Shakespeare  Lexicon  (3d  edi- 
tion by  G.  Sarrazin),  Abbott's  Shakespearean  Gram- 
mar,  or  for  those  who  read  German,  Franz's  Shake- 
spear  e-Grammatik.  Richard  Grant  White's  Studies 
in  Shakespeare  presents,  besides  a  critical  study  of 
several  individual  plays,  a  clear  exposition  of  the 
periods  of  the  poet's  work  and  a  complete  discussion 
of  the  Shakespeare-Bacon  controversy.  As  to  the  text 
there  are  many  library  editions,  the  "  Riverside,"  from 
which  our  text  is  taken,  being  as  good  as  any  and 
better  than  most.  Very  useful  to  the  reader  is  Bell's 
Reader  s  Shakespeare  in  three  volumes,  in  which  the 
plays,  somewhat  cut  down,  it  is  true,  are  presented  with 
such  suggestions  for  reading  and  emphasis  as  often  do 
much  to  bring  out  the  meaning. 


NOTE 

THIS  edition  of  King  Henry  the  Fifth  presents  the  text  and 
notes  of  the  Riverside  Edition.  In  a  few  cases  Mr.  White's 
notes  have  been  omitted,  but  as  a  rule  they  will  be  found  ver- 
batim, marked  W.  Of  the  additional  notes,  some  give  meanings 
that  have  changed  since  Shakespeare's  day,  in  order  to  carry 
out  Mr.  White's  plan  of  giving  the  meaning  of  obsolete  words. 
Such  a  help  is  quite  necessary  to  the  student  who  does  not  wish 
to  distract  his  attention  from  the  poetry  every  moment  to  gain 
linguistic  information.  But  besides  these,  it  has  seemed  well  to 
add  notes  on  the  dramatic  purpose  of  scene,  action,  and  char- 
acter, and  on  the  poetic  significance  of  phrase  or  speech.  These 
matters  are  also  touched  upon  in  the  Introduction,  but  the  notes 
give  especial  applications.  All  references  to  plays  are  given  in 
the  numbering  of  the  Riverside  Shakespeare. 

E.  E.  H.,  JR. 


DRAMATIS   PERSONS 


KING  HENKY  THE  FIFTH. 

DCKE  OF  GLOUCES-  }  brothers 
TER,  to  the 

DUKE  OF  BEDFORD,      )     King. 

DUKE  OF  EXETER,  uncle  to  the 
King. 

DUKE  OF  YORK,  cousin  to  the 
King. 

EARLS  OF  SALISBURY,  WEST- 
MORELAND, and  WARWICK. 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY. 

BISHOP  OF  ELY. 

EARL  OF  CAMBRIDGE. 

LORD  SCROOP. 

SIR  THOMAS  GREY. 

Sm  THOMAS  ERPINGHAM, 
GOWER,  FLUELLEN,  MACMOB- 
RIS,  JAMY,  officers  in  King 
Henry^s  army. 

BATES,  COURT,  WILLIAMS,  sol- 
diers in  the  same. 

PISTOL,  NYM,  BARDOLPH. 

Boy. 

A  Herald. 

SCENE  :  England ; 


CHARLES  THE  SIXTH,  King  of 
Frartce. 

LEWIS,  the  Dauphin. 

DUKES  OF  BURGUNDY,  ORLEANS, 
and  BOURBON. 

The  Constable  of  France. 

RAMBURES  and  GRANDPRE, 
French  Lords. 

Governor  of  Harfleur. 

MONTJOY,  a  French  Herald. 

Ambassadors  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land. 

ISABEL,  Queen  of  France. 
KATHARINE,  daughter  to   Charles 

and  Isabel. 

ALICE,  a  lady  attending  on  her. 
Hostess  of  a  tavern  in  Eastcheap, 

formerly  Mistress   Quickly,  and 

now  married  to  Pistol. 

Lords,  Ladies,   Officers,  Soldiers, 
Citizens,    Messengers,    and    At- 
tendants. 
Chorus. 
afterwards  France. 


KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH 


PROLOGUE 
Enter  Chorus. 

Chor.   O  for  a  Muse  of  fire,  that  would  ascend 
The  brightest  heaven  of  invention, 
A  kingdom  for  a  stage,  princes  to  act 
And  monarchs  to  behold  the  swelling  scene ! 
Then  should  the  warlike  Harry,  like  himself, 
Assume  the  port  of  Mars  ;   and  at  his  heels, 
Leash'd  in  like  hounds,  should  famine,  sword  and  fire 
Crouch  for  employment.    But  pardon,  gentles  all, 
The  flat  unraised  spirits  that  have  dar'd 
On  this  unworthy  scaffold  to  bring  forth  10 

So  great  an  object :  can  this  cockpit  hold 
The  vasty  fields  of  France  ?  or  may  we  cram 
Within  this  wooden  O  the  very  casques 
That  did  affright  the  air  at  Agincourt  ? 
O,  pardon !  since  a  crooked  figure  may 

2.  invention  :  four  syllables,  as  million,  line  16,  is  three.   W. 

10.  The  theatrical  allusions  in  the  speeches  of  Chorus  are 
very  interesting.  The  stage  is  called  a  scaffold  because  it  really 
was  one  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  circle,  "  this  wooden  O," 
"  the  girdle  of  these  walls,"  in  which  the  spectators  sat  and 
stood.  It  is  called  a  cockpit  probably  because  it  was  not  unlike 
one  ;  several  of  the  older  theatres  were  used  at  times  for  bull 
and  bear  baiting  and  for  cockfighting.  One  of  the  theatres 
built  shortly  after  this  ti?ne  was  called  The  Cockpit. 


28  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acr  I 

Attest  in  little  place  a  million ; 

And  let  us,  ciphers  to  this  great  accompt, 

On  your  imaginary  forces  work. 

Suppose  within  the  girdle  of  these  walls 

Are  now  confin'd  two  mighty  monarchies,  20 

Whose  high  upreared  and  abutting  fronts 

The  perilous  narrow  ocean  parts  asunder : 

Piece  out  our  imperfections  with  your  thoughts ; 

Into  a  thousand  parts  divide  one  man, 

And  make  imaginary  puissance  ; 

Think,  when  we  talk  of  horses,  that  you  see  thenf 

Printing  their  proud  hoofs  i'  th'  receiving  earth ; 

For  't  is  your  thoughts  that  now  must  deck  our  kings, 

Carry  them  here  and  there ;  jumping  o'er  times, 

Turning  th'  accomplishment  of  many  years  30 

Into  an  hour-glass:  for  the  which  supply, 

Admit  me  Chorus  to  this  history ; 

Who  prologue-like  your  humble  patience  pray, 

Gently  to  hear,  kindly  to  judge,  our  play.  [Exit. 


ACT  I 

SCENE  I.   London.  An  antechamber  in  the  KING'S  palace. 
Enter  the  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY  and  the  BISHOP  OF  ELY. 

Cant.   My  lord,  I  '11  tell  you ;  that  self  bill  is  urg'd, 
Which  in  the  eleventh  year  of  the  last  king's  reign 

18.  imaginary  =  imaginative.  In  1.  25  the  word  has  the 
modern  meaning. 

26.  This  was  Shakespeare's  general  view  of  stage-setting. 
Cf.  the  satire  on  Wall  and  Moonshine  in  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream,  III,  i,  40-65,  and  V,  i,  125-250. 

1.  bill  :  after  this  scene  we  hear  no  more  of  the  bill.  It  dis- 
appears when  it  has  served  its  purpose  of  introducing  King 
Henry  by  the  very  flattering  mention,  of  the  archbishop. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRF  THE  FIFTH  29 

Was  like,  and  had  indeed  against  us  pass'd, 
But  that  the  scambling  and  unquiet  time 
Did  push  it  out  of  farther  question. 

Ely.    But  how,  my  lord,  shall  we  resist  it  now  ? 

Cant.    It  must  be  thought  on.     If  it  pass  against 

us, 

We  lose  the  better  half  of  our  possession : 
For  all  the  temporal  lands  which  men  devout 
By  testament  have  given  to  the  church  10 

Would  they  strip  from  us  ;  being  valu'd  thus : 
As  much  as  would  maintain,  to  the  King's  honour, 
Full  fifteen  earls  and  fifteen  hundred  knights, 
Six  thousand  arid  two  hundred  good  esquires ; 
And,  to  relief  of  lazars  and  weak  age, 
Of  indigent  faint  souls  past  corporal  toil, 
A  hundred  almshouses  right  well  supplied ; 
And  to  the  coffers  of  the  King  beside, 
A  thousand  pounds  by  the  year :  thus  runs  the  bill. 

Ely.    This  would  drink  deep. 

Cant.  'T  would  drink  the  cup  and  all. 

Ely.    But  what  prevention  ?  21 

Cant.     The   King   is   full   of   grace  and   fair  re- 
gard. 

Ely.    And  a  true  lover  of  the  holy  church. 

Cant.    The  courses  of  his  youth  promis'd  it  not. 
The  breath  no  sooner  left  his  father's  body, 
But  that  his  wildness,  mortified  in  him, 
Seem'd  to  die  too ;  yea,  at  that  very  moment 
Consideration,  like  an  angel,  came 
And  whipp'd  the  offending  Adam  out  of  him, 

24.  courses:  these  are  the  courses  presented  in  1  Henry  IV. 
Shakespeare  merely  alludes  to  them  as  well  known  to  his  audi- 
ence. The  contrast  between  the  wild  youth  and  the  serious 
king  is  not  necessary  to  his  purpose  in  this  play. 


30  KING  HEX"        ?HE  FIFTH  [ACT  I 

Leaving  his  body  as  a  paradise,  30 

To  envelope  and  contain  celestial  spirits. 

Never  was  such  a  sudden  scholar  made ; 

Never  came  reformation  in  a  flood, 

With  such  a  heady  current,  scouring  faults ; 

Nor  never  Hydra-headed  wilfulness 

So  soon  did  lose  his  seat  and  all  at  once 

As  in  this  king. 

Ely.  We  are  blessed  in  the  change. 

Cant.    Hear  him  but  reason  in  divinity, 
And  all-admiring  with  an  inward  wish 
You  would  desire  the  King  were  made  a  prelate  :     40 
Hear  him  debate  of  commonwealth  affairs, 
You  would  say  it  hath  been  all  in  all  his  study : 
List  his  discourse  of  war,  and  you  shall  hear 
A  fearful  battle  render'd  you  in  music : 
Turn  him  to  any  cause  of  policy, 
The  Gordian  knot  of  it  he  will  unloose, 
Familiar  as  his  garter :  that,  when  he  speaks, 
The  air,  a  charter'd  libertine,  is  still, 
And  the  mute  wonder  lurketh  in  men's  ears, 
To  steal  his  sweet  and  honey'd  sentences  ;  50 

So  that  the  art  and  practic  part  of  life 
Must  be  the  mistress  to  this  theoric  : 
Which  is  a  wonder  how  his  grace  should  glean  it, 
Since  his  addiction  was  to  courses  vain, 
His  companies  unletter'd,  rude  and  shallow, 
His  hours  fill'd  up  with  riots,  banquets,  sports, 

33.  reformation  in  a  flood  :  an  allusion  to  Hercules's  cleans- 
ing of  the  Augean  stables  by  turning  a  river  through  them.  W. 

38.  Hear  him  but  reason  in  divinity,  etc.  All  this  is  mere 
fancy;  there  is  no  evidence  that  Henry  V  had  these  faculties  and 
accomplishments.  W. 

51.  practic  =  practical. 


SCENE!]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  31 

And  never  noted  in  him  any  study, 
Any  retirement,  any  sequestration 
From  open  haunts  and  popularity. 

Ely.    The  strawberry  grows  underneath  the  nettle 
And  wholesome  berries  thrive  and  ripen  best  61 

Neighbour'd  by  fruit  of  baser  quality : 
And  so  the  Prince  obscur'd  his  contemplation 
Under  the  veil  of  wildness  ;  which,  no  doubt, 
Grew  like  the  summer  grass,  fastest  by  night, 
Unseen,  yet  crescive  in  his  faculty. 

Cant.    It  must  be  so  ;  for  miracles  are  ceas'd  ,* 
And  therefore  we  must  needs  admit  the  means 
How  things  are  perfected. 

Ely.  But,  my  good  lord, 

How  now  for  mitigation  of  this  bill  70 

Urg'd  by  the  commons  ?     Doth  his  majesty 
Incline  to  it,  or  no  ? 

Cant.  He  seems  indifferent, 

Or  rather  swaying  more  upon  our  part 
Than  cherishing  the  exhibitors  against  us ; 
For  I  have  made  an  offer  to  his  majesty, 
Upon  our  spiritual  convocation 
And  in  regard  of  causes  now  in  hand, 
Which  I  have  operi'd  to  his  grace  at  large, 
As  touching  France,  to  give  a  greater  sum 
Than  ever  at  one  time  the  clergy  yet  80 

Did  to  his  predecessors  part  withal. 

Ely.    How  did  this  offer  seem  received,  my  lord? 

Cant.    With  good  acceptance  of  his  majesty ; 

59.  popularity  =  unreserved  intercourse  with  common  peo- 
ple. W. 

61.  And  wholesome  berries,  etc.  One  of  those  foolish  fan- 
cies that  originate  in  a  love  of  mystery.  It  was  long  prevalent.  W. 

74.  exhibitors  =  those  who  brought  forward  the  bill. 


32  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  I 

Save  that  there  was  not  time  enough  to  hear, 

As  I  perceiv'd  his  grace  would  fain  have  done, 

The  severals  and  unhidden  passages 

Of  his  true  titles  to  some  certain  dukedoms 

And  generally  to  the  crown  and  seat  of  France 

Deriv'd  from  Edward,  his  great-grandfather.  89 

Ely.    What  was  the  impediment  that  broke  this  off? 

Cant.    The  French  ambassador  upon  that  instant 
Crav'd  audience  ;  and  the  hour,  I  think,  is  come 
To  give  him  hearing :  is  it  four  o'clock  ? 

Ely.    It  is. 

Cant.    Then  go  we  in,  to  know  his  embassy; 
Which  I  could  with  a  ready  guess  declare, 
Before  the  Frenchman  speak  a  word  of  it. 

Ely.    I  '11  wait  upon  you,  and  I  long  to  hear  it. 

[Exeunt. 

<^. 
N  SCENE   II.    The  same.     The  presence  chamber. 

Enter  KING  HENRY,  GLOUCESTER,  BEDFORD,  EXETER,  WARWICK, 
WESTMORELAND,  and  Attendants. 

K.  Hen.    Where  is  my  gracious  Lord  of  Canter- 
bury ? 

Exe.   Not  here  in  presence. 

K.  Hen.  Send  for  him,  good  uncle. 

West.    Shall  we  call  in  th'  ambassador,  my  liege  ? 

K.  Hen.    Not  yet,  my  cousin,  we  would  be  resolv'd, 
Before  we  hear  him,  of  some  things  of  weight 
That  task  our  thoughts,  concerning  us  and  France. 
Enter  the  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY  and  the  BISHOP  OF  ELY. 

Cant.    God  and  his  angels  guard  your  sacred  throne 
And  make  you  long  become  it ! 

Scene  H.    This  scene  develops  rapidly  the   idea  presented 
in  the  one  before. 
8.  become  =  adorn. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  33 

K.  Hen.  Sure,  we  thank  you. 

My  learned  lord,  we  pray  you  to  proceed 
And  justly  and  religiously  unfold  10 

Why  the  law  Salique  that  they  have  in  France 
Or  should,  or  should  not,  bar  us  in  our  claim : 
And  God  forbid,  my  dear  and  faithful  lord, 
That  you  should  fashion,  wrest,  or  bow  your  reading, 
Or  nicely  charge  your  understanding  soul 
With  opening  titles  miscreate,  whose  right 
Suits  not  in  native  colours  with  the  truth ; 
For  God  doth  know  how  many  now  in  health 
Shall  drop  their  blood  in  approbation 
Of  what  your  reverence  shall  incite  us  to.  20 

Therefore  take  heed  how  you  impawn  our  person, 
How  you  awake  our  sleeping  sworcTof  war: 
We  charge  you,  in  the  name  of  God,  take  heed ; 
For  never  two  such  kingdoms  did  contend 
Without  much  fall  of  blood ;  whose  guiltless  drops 
Are  every  one  a  woe,  a  sore  complaint 
'Gainst  him  whose  wrong  gives  edge  unto  the  swords 
That  make  such  waste  in  brief  mortality. 
Under  this  conjuration  speak,  my  lord ; 
For  we  will  hear,  note  and  believe  in  heart  30 

That  what  you  speak  is  in  your  conscience  wash'd 
As  pure  as  sin  with  baptism. 

Cant.    Then  hear  me,  gracious  sovereign,  and  you 

peers, 

That  owe  yourselves,  your  lives  and  services 
To  this  imperial  throne.    There  is  no  bar 
To  make  against  your  highness'  claim  to  France 

14.  bow  =  bend  or  turn  your  interpretation. 

15.  nicely  =  in  a  very  special  manner. 

20.  Compare  with  this  the  king's  speech  in  IV,  i,"146  ff. 

21.  impawn  =  put  in  pawn,  commit. 


34  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  I 

But  this,  which  they  produce  from  Pharamond, 

"  In  terrain  Salicam  mulieres  ne  succedant :  " 

"  No  wbman  shall  succeed  in  Salique  land  :  " 

Which  Salique  land  the  French  unjustly  gloze          40 

To  be  the  realm  of  France,  and  Pharamond 

The  founder  of  this  'law  and  female  bar. 

Yet  their  own  authors  faithfully  affirm 

That  the  land  Salique  is  in  Germany, 

Between  the  floods  of  Sala  and  of  Elbe ; 

Where  Charles  the  Great,  having  subdu'd  the  Saxons, 

There  left  behind  and  settled  certain  French ; 

Who,  holding  in  disdain  the  German  women 

For  some  dishonest  manners  of  their  life, 

Establish 'd  then  this  law  ;  to  wit,  no  female  50 

Should  be  inheritrix  in  Salique  land : 

Which  Salique,  as  I  said,  'twixt  Elbe  and  Sala, 

Is  at  this  day  in  Germany  call'd  Meisen. 

Then  doth  it  well  appear  the  Salique  law 

Was  not  devised  for  the  realm  of  France ; 

Nor  did  the  French  possess  the  Salique  land 

Until  four  hundred  one  and  twenty  years 

After  defunction  of  King  Pharamond, 

Idly  suppos'd  the  founder  of  this  law ; 

Who  died  within  the  year  of  our  redemption  60 

Four  hundred  twenty-six ;  and  Charles  the  Great 

Subdu'd  the  Saxons,  and  did  seat  the  French 

Beyond  the  river  Sala,  in  the  year 

37.  Pharamond  was,  according  to  legend,  the  first  King  of 
France. 

40.  gloze  =  explain,  as  with  a  gloss. 

46.  Charles  the  Great  =  Charlemagne.   W. 

49.  dishonest  =  unchaste.  S.  simply  took  the  word  from 
Holinshed.  W. 

61.  Four  hundred  twenty-six.  These  dates  and  the  accom- 
panying arithmetic  S.  took  without  question  from  Holinshed.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  35 

Eight  hundred  five.    Besides,  their  writers  say, 

King  Pepin,  which  deposed  Childeric, 

Did,  as  heir  general,  being  descended 

Of  Blithild,  which  was  daughter  to  King  Clothair, 

Make  claim  and  title  to  the  crown  of  France. 

Hugh  Capet  also,  who  usurp'd  the  crown 

Of  Charles  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  sole  heir  male      70 

Of  the  true  line  and  stock  of  Charles  the  Great, 

To  find  his  title  with  some  shows  of  truth, 

Though,  in  pure  truth,  it  was  corrupt  and  naught, 

Convey'd  himself  as  heir  to  the  Lady  Lingare, 

Daughter  to  Charlemain,  who  was  the  son 

To  Lewis  the  Emperor,  and  Lewis  the  son 

Of  Charles  the  Great.   Also  King  Lewis  the  Tenth, 

Who  was  sole  heir  to  the  usurper  Capet, 

Could  not  keep  quiet  in  his  conscience, 

Wearing  the  crown  of  France,  till  satisfied  80 

That  fair  Queen  Isabel,  his  grandmother, 

Was  lineal  of  the  Lady  Ermengare, 

Daughter  to  Charles  the  foresaid  Duke  of  Lorraine : 

By  the  which  marriage  the  line  of  Charles  the  Great 

Was  re-united  to  the  crown  of  France. 

So  that,  as  clear  as  is  the  summer's  sun, 

King  Pepin's  title  and  Hugh  Capet's  claim, 

King  Lewis  his  satisfaction,  all  appear 

To  hold  in  right  and  title  of  the  female : 

So  do  the  kings  of  France  unto  this  day ;  90 

Howbeit  they  would  hold  up  this  Salique  law 

To  bar  your  highness  claiming  from  the  female, 

72.  to  find  =  to  provide.    W. 

74.  Convey'd  =  passed  himself  off. 

75.  Charlemain  :  taken  from  Holinshed.  It  should  be  Charles 
the  Bald.   There  are  other  errors,  but  of  even  less  importance 
to  S.'s  readers.   W. 


36  KING  HENR?  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  I 

And  rather  choose  to  hide  them  in  a  net 
Than  amply  to  imbare  their  crooked  titles 
Usurp'd  from  you^and  your  progenitors. 

K.  Hen.   May  I  with  right  and  conscience  make 

this  claim  ? 

Cant.    The  sin  upon  my  head,  dread  sovereign ! 
For  in  the  book  of  Numbers  is  it  writ, 
When  the  man  dies,  let  the  inheritance 
Descend  unto  the  daughter.    Gracious  lord,  100 

Stand  for  your  own  ;  unwind  your  bloody  flag  ; 
Look  back  into  your  mighty  ancestors : 
Go,  my  dread  lord,  to  your  great-grandsire's  tomb, 
From  whom  you  claim ;  invoke  his  warlike  spirit, 
And  your  great-uncle's,  Edward  the  Black  Prince, 
Who  on  the  French  ground  play'd  a  tragedy, 
Making  defeat  on  the  full  power  of  France, 
Whiles  his  most  mighty  father  on  a  hill 
Stood  smiling  to  behold  his  lion's  wh^p 
Forage  in  blood  of  French  nobility.  110 

O  noble  English,  that  could  entertain 
With  half  their  forces  the  full  pride  of  France 
And  let  another  half  stand  laughing  by, 
All  out  of  work  and  cold  for  action ! 

94.  imbare.  The  passage  is  puzzling,  but  the  word  seems 
to  mean  to  make  bare,  put  into  light. 

96.  The  archbishop  has  urged  that  the  law,  if  rightly  under- 
stood, is  no  bar  to  Henry's  claim,  and  that  the  title  of  the  King 
of  France  to  his  own  throne  shows  it  to  be  so.  Henry  would 
seem  hardly  to  follow  the  reasoning:  after  this  long  explanation 
he  asks  directly  for  the  result.  He  has  asked  expert  advice, 
and  means  to  take  it,  or  possibly  he  desires  definite  and  public 
justification  for  the  course  he  means  to  pursue. 

103.  great-grandsire:  Edward  III. 

108.  on  a  hill.  Edward  III  stood  on  a  hill  by  a  windmill  at 
Crecy,  and  saw  the  Black  Prince  defeat  the  French.  Only  part 
of  the  English  army  was  engaged.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  37 

t 

Ely.    Awake  remembrance  of  these  valiant  dead 
And  with  your  puissant  arm  renew  their  feats  : 
You  are  their  heir ;  you  sit  upon  their  throne ; 
The  blood  and  courage  that  renowned  them 
Euns  in  your  veins ;  and  my  thrice-puissant  liege 
Is  in  the  very  May-morn  of  his  youth,  120 

Eipe  for  exploits  and  mighty  enterprises. 

Exe.   Your  brother   kings   and   monarchs   of   the 

earth 

Do  all  expect  that  you  should  rouse  yourself, 
As  did  the  former  lions  of  your  blood. 

West.    They  know  your  grace  hath  cause  and  means 

and  might ; 

So  hath  your  highness  ;  never  King  of  England 
Had  nobles  richer  and  more  loyal  subjects, 
Whose  hearts  have  left  their  bodies  here  in  England 
And  lie  pavilion'd  in  the  fields  of  France.  ~- 

Cant.    O,  let  their  bodies  follow,  my  dear  liege,  130 
With  blood  and  sword  and  fire  to  win  your  right ; 
In  aid  whereof  we  of  the  spiritualty 
Will  raise  your  highness  such  a  mighty  sum 
As  never  did  the  clergy  at  one  time 
Bring  in  to  any  of  your  ancestors. 

K.  Hen.   We   must  not   only  arm  to   invade  the 

French, 

But  lay  down  our  proportions  to  defend 
Against  the  Scot,  who  will  make  road  upon  us 
With  all  advantages. 

Cant.   They  of  those  marches,  gracious  sovereign, 
Shall  be  a  wall  sufficient  to  defend  141 

Our  inland  from  the  pilfering  borderers. 

126.  i.  e.,  they  are  right. 

129.  They  already  think  themselves  encamped  in  France. 

137.  proportions  —  calculations,  plans. 


38  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  I 

K.  Hen.    We  do  not  mean  the  coursing  snatchers 

only, 

But  fear  the  main  intendment  of  the  Scot, 
Who  hath  been  still  a  giddy  neighbour  to  us ; 
For  you  shall  reacTthat  my  great-grandfather 
Never  went  with  his  forces  into  France 
But  that  the  Scot  on  his  unfurnish'd  kingdom 
Came  pouring,  like  the  tide  into  a  breach, 
With  ample  and  brim  fullness  of  his  force,  150 

Galling  the  gleaned  land  with  hot  assays, 
Girding  with  grievous  siege  castles  and  towns ; 
That  England,  being  empty  of  defence, 
Hath  shook  and  trembled  at  th'  ill  neighbourhood. 

Cant.    She  hath  been  then  more  f ear'd  than  harm'd, 

my  liege  ; 

For  hear  her  but  exampled  by  herself : 
When  a,l\  her  chivalry  hath  been  in  France 
And  she  a  mourning  widow  of  her  nobles, 
She  hath  herself  not  only  well  defended 
But  taken  and  impounded  as  a  stray  160 

The  King  of  Scots ;  whom  she  did  send  to  France, 
To  fill  King  Edward's  fame  with  prisoner  kings 
And  make  her  chronicle  as  rich  with  praise 
As  is  the  ooze  and  bottom  of  the  sea 
With  sunken  wreck  and  sumless  treasuries. 

West.    But  there  's  a  saying  very  old  and  true, 

"  If  that  you  will  France  win, 
Then  with  Scotland  first  begin :  " 

145.  still  =  always,  as  generally  in  Shakespeare. 
145.  giddy  =  excitable,  hot-headed. 

150.  brim  fullness :  an  astonishing  example  of  S.'s  reckless- 
ness in  the  use  of  language.   W. 

151.  assays  =  attempts. 

155.  more  f  ear'd  —  more  frightened.   W. 

156.  For  .  .  .  herself.     The  archbishop  refers  to  the  year 
1346,  when  Edward  III  was  absent  in  France. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  39 

For  once  the  eagle  England  being  in  prey, 

To  her  unguarded  nest  the  weasel  Scot  170 

Comes  sneaking  and  so  sucks  her  princely  eggs, 

Playing  the  mouse  in  absence  of  the  cat, 

To  tear  and  havoc  more  than  she  can  eat. 

Exe.    It  follows  then  the  cat  must  stay  at  home : 
Yet  that  is  but  a  curs'd  necessity, 
Since  we  have  locks  to  safeguard  necessaries, 
And  pretty  traps  to  catch  the  petty  thieves. 
While  that  the  armed  hand  doth  fight  abroad, 
The  advised  head  defends  itself  at  home ; 
For  government,  though  high  and  low  and  lower,    180 
Put  into  parts,  doth  keep  in  one  consent, 
Congruing  in  a  full  and  natural  close, 
Like  music. 

Cant.         Therefore  doth  heaven  divide 
The  state  of  man  in  divers  functions, 
Setting  endeavour  in  continual  motion ; 
To  which  is  fixed,  as  an  aim  or  butt, 
Obedience  :  for  so  work  the  honey-bees, 
Creatures  that  by  a  rule  in  nature  teach 
The  act  of  order  to  a  peopled  kingdom. 
They  have  a  king  and  officers  of  sorts ;  190 

Where  some,  like  magistrates,  correct  at  home, 
Others,  like  merchants,  venture  trade  abroad, 
Others,  lil^e.  soldiers,  armed  in  their  stings, 

175.  curs'd  necessity  =:  a  bitter,  sharp,  shrewd  necessity.  W. 

182.  congruing  =  harmonizing.     The  Folio   has  congreeing, 
which,  if  used  by  Shakespeare,  was  probably  formed  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment,  for  it  is  not  found  elsewhere. 

183.  See  p.  16  for  comment  on  this  speech. 
186.  butt  =  a  kind  of  target  at  archery. 

190.  a  king  :  in  point  of  fact  a  queen,  there  being  no  Salic 
law  in  the  hive. 

190.  sorts  =  various  ranks.   W. 


40  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  I 

Make  boot  upon  the  summer's  velvet  buds, 
Which  pillage  they  with  merry  march  bring  home 
To  the  tent-royal  of  their  emperor ; 
Who,  busied  in  his  majesty,  surveys 
The  singing  masons  building  roofs  of  gold, 
The  civil  citizens  kneading  up  the  honey, 
The  poor  mechanic  porters  crowding  in  200 

Their  heavy  burdens  at  his  narrow  gate, 
The  sad -eyed  justice,  with  his  surly  hum, 
Delivering  o'er  to  executors  pale 
The  lazy  yawning  drone.    I  this  infer, 
That  many  things,  having  full  reference 
To  one  consent,  may  work  contrariously : 
As  many  arrows,  loosed  several  ways, 
Come  to  one  mark ;  as  many  ways  meet  in  one  town  ; 
As  many  fresh  streams  meet  in  one  salt  sea ; 
As  many  lines  close  in  the  dial's  centre ;  210 

So  may  a  thousand  actions,  once  afoot, 
End  in  one  purpose,  and  be  all  well  borne 
Without  defeat.    Therefore  to  France,  my  liege. 
Divide  your  happy  England  into  four ; 
Whereof  take  you  one  quarter  into  France, 
And  you  withal  shall  make  all  Gallia  shake. 
If  we,  with  thrice  such  powers  left  at  home, 
Cannot  defend  our  own  doors  from  the  dog, 
Let  us  be  worried  and  our  nation  lose 
The  name  of  hardiness  and  policy.  220 

K.  Hen.     Call   in  the  messengers  sent  from  the 

Dolphin.  [Exeunt  some  Attendants. 

199.  civil,  as  opposed  to  military. 

210.  dial,  the  sun-dial. 

221.  Dolphin.  The  title  Dauphin  came  from  the  proper 
name  Dauphin,  which  in  turn  was  from  the  dolphin  on  the  coat- 
of-arms. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  41 

Now  are  we  well  resolv'd ;  and,  by  God's  help, 

And  yours,  the  noble  sinews  of  our  power, 

France  being  ours,  we  '11  bend  it  to  our  awe, 

Or  break  it  all  to  pieces  :  or  there  we  '11  sit, 

Ruling  in  large  and  ample  empery 

O'er  France  and  all  her  almost  kingly  dukedoms, 

Or  lay  these  bones  in  an  unworthy  urn, 

Tombless,  with  no  remembrance  over  them : 

Either  our  history  shall  with  full  mouth  230 

Speak  freely  of  our  acts,  or  else  ourr~grave, 

Like  Turkish  mute,  shall  have  a  tongueless  mouth, 

Not  worshipp'd  with  a  waxen  epitaph. 

_ .  _  Enter  Ambassadors  of  France. 

jNow  are  we  well  prepar'd  to  know  the  pleasure 
[Of  our  fair  cousin  Dolphin  ;  for  we  hear 
Your  greeting  is  from  him,  not  from  the  King. 

First  Amb.   May  't  please  your  majesty  to  give  us 

leave 

Freely  to  render  what  we  have  in  charge ; 
Or  shall  we  sparingly  show  you  far  off 
The  Dolphin's  meaning  and  our  embassy  ?  240 

K.   Hen.     We   are    no   tyrant,   but    a   Christian 

king; 

Unto  whose  grace  our  passion  is  as  subject 
As  are  our  wretc&es  fetter'd  in  our  prisons  : 
Therefore  with  frank  and  with  uncurbed  plainness 
Tell  us  the  Dolphin's  mind. 

227.  In  the  middle  ages  France  was  more  of  a  combination 
of  powerful  dukedoms  than  a  kingdom.  The  dukes  of  Nor- 
mandy, Burgundy,  Brittany,  and  others  were  practically  inde- 
pendent rulers,  and  were  obedient  to  the  King  of  France  only  as 
he  could  compel  obedience. 

232.  mute  •=  a  servant  whose  tongue  has  been  cut  out. 

233.  waxen  =  soft,  perishable  ;   suggested  by  waxen  tablets 
for  writing.    W. 


±2  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acr  I 

First  Amb.  Thus,  then,  in  few. 

Your  highness,  lately  sending  into  France, 
Did  claim  some  certain  dukedoms,  in  the  right 
Of  your  great  predecessor,  King  Edward  the  Third. 
In  answer  of  which  claim,  the  prince  our  master 
Says  that  you  savour  too  much  of  your  youth,          250 
And  bids  you  be  advis'd  there  's  nought  in  France 
That  can  be  with  a  nimble  galliard  won ; 
You  cannot  revel  into  dukedoms  there. 
He  therefore  sends  you,  meeter  for  your  spirit, 
This  tun  of  treasure ;  and,  in  lieu  of  this, 
Desires  you  let  the  dukedoms  that  you  claim 
Hear  no  more  of  you.     This  the  Dolphin  speaks. 

K.  Hen.   What  treasure,  uncle  ? 

Exe.  Tennis-balls,  my  liege. 

K.  Hen.   We  are  glad  the  Dolphin  is  so  pleasant 

with  us ; 

His  present  and  your  pains  we  thank  you  for  :         26.0^ 
When  we  have  match'd  our  rackets  to  these  balls, 
We  will,  in  France,  by  God's  grace,  play  a  set 
Shall  strike  his  father's  crown  into  the  hazard. 
Tell  him  he  hath  made  a  match  with  such  a  wrangler 
That  all  the  courts  of  France  will  be  disturb'd 
With  chaces.    And  we  understand  him  well, 
How  he  comes  o'er  us  with  our  wilder  days, 
Not  measuring  what  use  we  made  of  them. 
We  never  valued  this  poor  seat  of  England ; 
And  therefore,  living  hence,  did  give  ourself  270 

247.  certain  dukedoms  :  Normandy,  Brittany,  Touraine, 
and  the  earldoms  of  Anjou  and  Maine. 

259.  pleasant  =  full  of  jest. 

261.  rackets,  set,  hazard,  chaces :  technical  terms  in  the 
game  of  court  tennis. 

267.  The  Dauphin  was  thinking  that  Henry  was  still  his 
younger  self. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  43 

To  barbarous  license ;  as  't  is  ever  common 

That  men  are  merriest  when  they  are  from  home. 

But  tell  the  Dolphin  I  will  keep  my  state, 

Be  like  a  king  and  show  my  sail  of  greatness 

When  I  do  rouse  me  in  my  throne  of  France : 

For  that  I  have  laid  by  my  majesty 

And  plodded  like  a  man  for  working-days, 

But  I  will  rise  there  with  so  full  a  glory 

That  I  will  dazzle  all  the  eyes  of  France, 

Yea,  strike  the  Dolphin  blind  to  lock  on  us.  280 

And  tell  the  pleasant  prince  this  mock  of  his 

Hath  turn'd  his  balls  to  gun-stones ;  and  his  soul 

Shall  stand  sore  charged  for  the  wasteful  vengeance 

That  shall  fly  with  them  :  for  many  a  thousand  widows 

Shall  this  his  mock  mock  out  of  their  dear  husbands; 

Mock  mothers  from  their  sons,  mock  castles  down ; 

And  some  are  yet  ungotten  and  unborn 

That  shall  have  cause  to  curse  the  Dolphin's  scorn. 

But  this  lies  all  within  the  will  of  God, 

To  whom  I  do  appeal ;  and  in  whose  name  290 

Tell  you  the  Dolphin  I  am  coming  on, 

To  venge  me  as  I  may,  and  to  put  forth 

My  rightful  hand  in  a  well-hallow'd  cause. 

So  get  you  hence  in  peace ;  and  tell  the  Dolphin 

His  jest  will  savour  but  of  shallow  wit, 

When  thousands  weep  more  than  did  laugh  at  it. 

Convey  them  with  safe  conduct.   Fare  you  well. 

[Exeunt  Ambassadors. 

Exe.  This  was  a  merry  message. 

K.  Hen.   We  hope  to  make  the  sender  blush  at  it. 
Therefore,  my  lords,  omit  no  happy  hour  300 

That  may  give  furth'rance  to  our  expedition  ; 

282.  gun-stones  =  cannon  balls,  made  at  first  of  stone.   W. 
300.  happy  —  fortunate. 


44  KING  HEtfRY  THE  FIFTH  [ ACT  II 

For  we  have  now  no  thought  in  us  but  France, 
Save  those  to  God,  that  run  before  our  business. 
Therefore,  let  our  proportions  for  these  wars 
Be  soon  collected  and  all  things  thought  upon 
That  may  with  reasonable  swiftness  add 
More  feathers  to  our  wings  ;  for,  God  before, 
We  '11  chide  this  Dolphin  at  his  father's  door. 
Therefore  let  every  man  now  task  his  thought, 
That  this  fair  action  may  on  foot  be  brought.        *310 

{Exeunt.   Flourish- 

ACT  II 
PROLOGUE 

Enter  Chorus. 

Chor.  Now  all  the  youth  of  England  are  on  fire, 
And  silken  dalliance  in  the  wardrobe  lies : 
Now  thrive  the  armourers,  and  honour's  thought 
Reigns  solely  in  the  breast  of  every  man : 
They  sell  the  pasture  now  to  buy  the  horse, 
Following  the  mirror  of  all  Christian  kings, 
With  winged  heels,  as  English  Mercuries. 
For  now  sits  Expectation  in  the  air, 
And  hides  a  sword  from  hilts  unto  the  point 
With  crowns  imperial,  crowns  and  coronets,  10 

Promis'd  to  Harry  and  his  followers. 
The  French,  advis'd  by  good  intelligence 

307.  God  before  —  God  going  before,  Deo  juvante.    W. 

Prologue.  This  exemplifies  one  of  the  great  functions  of  the 
Chorus;  it  tells  us  about  things  instead  of  showing  them  to  us; 
it  is  narrative  and  not  dramatic.  Shakespeare  uses  it  for  mat- 
ters that  could  not  easily  be  presented  in  action. 

9.  And  hides  a  sword,  etc.  Swords  with  crowns  thus 
spitted  on  them  may  be  seen  in  some  old  engraved  royal  por- 
traits. W. 


PROLOGUE]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  45 

Of  this  most  dreadful  preparation, 

Shake  in  their  fear  and  with  pale  policy 

Seek  to  divert  the  English  purposes. 

O  England !  model  to  thy  inward  greatness 

Like  little  body  with  a  mighty  heart, 

What  mightst  thou  do,  that  honour  would  thee  do, 

Were  all  thy  children  kind  and  natural ! 

But  see  thy  fault !  France  hath  in  thee  found  out     20 

A  nest  of  hollow  bosoms,  which  he  fills 

With  treacherous  crowns  ;  and  three  corrupted  men, 

One,  Richard  Earl  of  Cambridge,  and  the  second, 

Henry  Lord  Scroop  of  Masham,  and  the  third, 

Sir  Thomas  Grey,  knight,  of  Northumberland, 

Have,  for  the  gilt  of  France,  —  O  guilt  indeed !  — 

Confirm'd  conspiracy  with  fearful  France  ; 

And  by  their  hands  this  grace  of  kings  must  die, 

If  hell  and  treason  hold  their  promises, 

Ere  he  take  ship  for  France,  and  in  Southampton.  30 

Linger  your  patience  on  ;  and  we  '11  digest 

The  abuse  of  distance  ;  force  a  play  : 

The  sum  is  paid  ;  the  traitors  are  agreed ; 

The  King  is  set  from  London ;  and  the  scene 

Is  now  transported,  gentles,  to  Southampton  ; 

There  is  the  playhouse  now,  there  must  you  sit : 

And  thence  to  France  shall  we  convey  you  safe, 

16.  model  to  thy  inward  greatness  =  proportioned  to  thy 
inward  greatness.    W. 

19.  kind  and  natural.     The  meaning  of   the  two  words  is 
here  much  the  same. 

20.  France  =  the  King  of  France.     So  England  in  II,  iv,  75. 
23.  Cambridge :  cousin  to  Henry  IV.     Scroop  :  third  hus- 
band of  Joan,  widow  of  Edmund,  Duke  of  York.    W. 

32.  force  a  play.    Either  this  phrase  is  hopelessly  corrupt,  or 
something  before  it  has  been  lost.    W. 
34.  scene  =  place  of  action. 


46  KING  HE$RY  THE  FIFTH  [ ACT  II 

And  bring  you  back,  charming  the  narrow  seas 

To  give  you  gentle  pass  ;  for,  if  we  may, 

We  '11  not  offend  one  stomach  with  our  play.  40 

But,  till  the  King  come  forth,  and  not  till  then, 

Unto  Southampton  do  we  shift  our  scene.  [Exit. 

SCENE  I.    London.   A  street. 
Enter  Corporal  NYM  and  Lieutenant  BAKDOLPH. 

Bard.  Well  met,  Corporal  Nym. 

Nym.  Good  morrow,  Lieutenant  Bardolph. 

Bard.  What,  are  Ancient  Pistol  and  you  friends 
yet? 

Nym.  For  my  part,  I  care  not :  I  say  little ;  but 
when  time  shall  serve,  there  shall  be  smiles ;  but  that 
shall  be  as  it  may.  I  dare  not  fight ;  but  I  will  wink 
and  hold  out  mine  iron  :  it  is  a  simple  one ;  but  what 
though?  it  will  toast  cheese,  and  it  will  endure  cold 
as  another  man's  sword  will :  and  there  's  an  end.  10 

Bard.  I  will  bestow  a  breakfast  to  make  you  friends  ; 
and  we  '11  be  all  three  sworn  brothers  to  France  :  let  it 
be  so,  good  Corporal  Nym. 

Nym.  Faith,  I  will  live  so  long  as  I  may,  that 's  the 
certain  of  it :  and  when  I  cannot  live  any  longer,  I 

42.  The  first  scene  was  not  to  be  at  Southampton. 

Scene  I.  This  is  one  of  the  humorous  or  character  scenes 
that  the  Elizabethan  drama  sandwiched  in  amongst  the  poetry 
and  rhetoric.  Bardolph  and  Pistol  are  reminiscences  of  Henry 
IV,  remnants  of  the  swaggering  crew  of  Falstaff .  Nym  comes 
from  the  Merry  Wives.  They  serve  Shakespeare's  purpose  only 
indirectly.  For  the  exhibition  of  British  courage  and  achieve- 
ment he  creates  men  of  a  different  stamp,  Fluellen  and  Gower, 
Macmorris  and  Jamy,  Williams  and  Bates.  Pistol  is  the  only 
one  of  the  swaggerers  who  remains  through  the  play:  Bardolph 
is  hanged  for  robbing  a  church,  and  Nyra  is,  also,  though  for 
some  reason  that  we  do  not  hear. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  47 

will  do  as  I  may :  that  is  my  rest,  that  is  the  rendez- 
vous of  it. 

Bard.  It  is  certain,  corporal,  that  he  is  married  to 
Nell  Quickly :  and  certainly  she  did  you  wrong  ;  for 
you  were  troth-plight  to  her.  20 

Nym.  I  cannot  tell :  things  must  be  as  they  may ; 
men  may  sleep,  and  they  may  have  their  throats  about 
them  at  that  time ;  and  some  say  knives  have  edges.  It 
must  be  as  it  may :  though  patience  be  a  tired  mare,  yet 
she  will  plod.  There  must  be  conclusions.  Well,  I 
cannot  tell. 

Enter  PISTOL  and  Hostess. 

Bard.  Here  come  Ancient  Pistol  and  his  wife  : 
corporal,  be  patient  here. 

Nym.  How  now,  mine  host  Pistol ! 

Pist.  Base  tike,vcaH'st  thou  me  host?  30 

Now,  by  this  hand,  I  swear,  I  scorn  the  term ; 
Nor  shall  my  Nell  keep  lodgers. 

Host.  No,  by  my  troth,  not  long  ;  for  we  cannot 
lodge  and  board  a  dozen  or  fourteen  gentlewomen  that 
live  honestly  by  the  prick  of  their  needles,  but  it  will 
be  thought  we  keep  a  bawdy  house  straight.  [Nym 
drawsJ]  O  well  a  day,  Lady,  if  he  be  not  drawn  now  ! 
we  shall  see  wilful  adultery  and  murder  committed. 

Bard.  Good  lieutenant!  good  corporal!  offer  no- 
thing here.  .  40 

Nym.  Pish! 

Pist.  Pish  for  thee,  Iceland  dog !  thou  prick-ear'd 
cur  of  Iceland ! 

16.  the  rendezvous.  Let  it  be  said,  once  for  all,  that  Nym's 
and  Pistol's  French,  like  much  of  their  English,  passes  human 
understanding,  although  not  human  enjoyment.  W. 

It  would  seem,  however,  from  V,  i,  84  that  they  thought  ren- 
dezvous meant  rest  or  something  of  the  sort. 

42.  prick-ear'd  =  with  pointed  ears. 


48  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  II 

Host.  Good  Corporal  Nym,  show  thy  valour,  and 
put  up  your  sword. 

Nym.  Will  you  shog  off  ?   I  would  have  you  solus. 

Pist.   "  Solus,"  egregious  dog  ?    O  viper  vile  ! 
The  "  solus  "  in  thy  most  mervailous  face  ; 
The  "solus  "  in  thy  teeth,  and  in  thy  throat, 
And  in  thy  hateful  lungs,  yea,  in  thy  maw,  perdy,    50 
And,  which  is  worse,  within  thy  nasty  mouth ! 
I  do  retort  the  "  solus  "  in  thy  bowels ; 
For  I  can  take,  and  Pistol's  cock  is  up, 
And  flashing  fire  will  follow. 

Nym.  I  am  not  Barbason ;  you  cannot  conjure  me. 
I  have  an  humour  to  knock  you  indifferently  well.  If 
you  grow  foul  with  me,  Pistol,  I  will  scour  you  with 
my  rapier,  as  I  may,  in  fair  terms :  if  you  would  walk 
off,  I  would  prick  your  guts  a  little,  in  good  terms,  as 
I  may  :  and  that 's  the  humour  of  it.  60 

Pist.  O  braggart  vile  and  damned  furious  wight ! 
The  grave  doth  gape,  and  doting  death  is  near ; 
Therefore  exhale.  [Pistol  draws. 

Bard.  Hear  me,  hear  me  what  I  say :  he  that  strikes 
the  first  stroke,  I  '11  run  him  up  to  the  hilts,  as  I  am  a 
soldier.  [Draws. 

Pist.    An  oath  of  mickle  might;   and  fury  shall, 

abate. 

Give  me  thy  fist,  thy  fore-foot  to  me  give : 
Thy  spirits  are  most  tall. 

Nym.  I  will  cut  thy  throat,  one  time  or  other,  in 
fair  terms  :  that  is  the  humour  of  it.  71 

46.  shog  =  jog.   W.    Cf.  II,  iii,  45. 
55.  Barbason  was  the  name  of  a  devil. 

63.  exhale  -  draw  out.    W. 

64.  Hear  .  .  .  say ;  note  the  double  object. 

71.  the  humour  of  it:  a  favorite  expression  with  Nym  (II, 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  49 

fist.  "  Couple  a  gorge  !  " 
That  is  the  word.    I  thee  defy  again. 

0  hound  of  Crete,  think'st  thou  my  spouse  to  get  ? 
No ;  to  the  spital  go, 

And  from  the  powdering-tub  of  infamy 

Fetch  forth  the  lazar  kite  of  Cressid's  kind,     >1 

Doll  Tearsheet  she  by  name,  and  her  espouse : 

1  have,  and  I  will  hold,  the  quondam  Quickly 

For  the  only  she  ;  and — j»o*£C&  there  's  enough.  80 
Goto. 

Enter  the,  Boy. 

Boy.  Mine  host  Pistol,  you  must  come  to  my  mas- 
ter, and  you,  hostess  :  he  is  very  sick,  and  would  to 
bed.  Good  Bardolph,  put  thy  face  between  his  sheets, 
and  do  the  office  of  a  warming-pan.  Faith,  he  's  very 
ill. 

Bard.   Away,  you  rogue  ! 

Host.  By  my  troth,  he  '11  yield  the  crow  a  pudding 
one  of  these  days.  The  King  has  kill'd  his  heart. 
Good  husband,  come  home  presently.  90 

[Exeunt  Hostess  and  Boy. 

Bard.  Come,  shall  I  make  you  two  friends?  We 
must  to  France  together :  why  the  devil  should  we  keep 
knives  to  cut  one  another's  throats  ? 

Pist.  Let  floods  o'erswell,  and  fiends  for  food  howl 
on ! 

i,  99,  119;  II,  iii,  60;  III,  ii,  5).  Humour  has  many  meanings 
in  Elizabethan  English,  as  will  be  seen  in  The  Merry  Wives,  I, 
iii,  where  Nym  uses  it  nine  times  in  ten  speeches. 

72.  Couple  a  gorge.     See  IV,  iv,  38  and  note. 

80.  pauca  =  little,  in  brief.    (Lat.)    W. 

84.  One  of  the  many  jests  at  Bardolph's  nose.    Cf.  II,  iii,  41. 

89.  By  not  keeping  him   in  favor.    Cf.  2  Henry  IV,  V,  v, 
51  ff. 

90.  presently  =  at  this  present  moment,  now,  at  once.   W. 


50  KING  HEtf&Y  THE  FIFTH  [ ACT  II 

Nym.  You  '11  pay  me  the  eight  shillings  I  won  of 
you  at  betting  ? 

Pist.    Base  is  the  slave  that  pays. 

Nym.    That  now  I  will  have :  that 's  the  humour  of  it. 

Pist.    As  manhood  shall  compound :  push  home. 

[  They  draw. 

Bard.  By  this  sword,  he  that  makes  the  first 
thrust,  I  '11  kill  him  ;  by  this  sword,  I  will.  102 

Pist.  Sword  is  an  oath,  and  oaths  must  have  their 
course. 

Bard.  Corporal  Nym,  an  thou  wilt  be  friends,  be 
friends :  an  thou  wilt  not,  why,  then,  be  enemies  with 
me  too.  Prithee,  put  up. 

Nym.  I  shall  have  my  eight  shillings  I  won  of  you 
at  betting  ? 

Pist.    A  noble  shalt  thou  have,  and  present  pay'; 
And  liquor  likewise  will  I  give  to  thee,  111 

And  friendship  shall  combine,  and  brotherhood : 
I  '11  live  by  Nym,  and  Nym  shall  live  by  me ; 
Is  not  this  just?  for  I  shall  sutler  be 
Unto  the  camp,  and  profits  will  accrue. 
Give  me  thy  hand. 

Nym.    I  shall  have  my  noble  ? 

Pist.    In  cash  most  justly  paid. 

Nym.    Well,  then,  that 's  the  humour  of  't.          119 

He-enter  Hostess. 

Host.  As  ever  you  came  of  women,  come  in  quickly 
to  Sir  John.  Ah,  poor  heart !  he  is  so  shak'd  of  a 
burning  quotidian  tertian,  that  it  is  most  lamentable 
to  behold.  Sweet  men,  come  to  him. 

Nym.  The  King  hath  run  bad  humours  on  the 
knight  ;  that 's  the  even  of  it. 

98.  Base  is  the  slave,  etc.:  a  quotation  from  an  old  play, 
like  much  of  Pistol's  bombast.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  51 

Pist.    Nym,  thou  hast  spoke  the  right ; 
His  heart  is  fracted  and  corroborate. 

Nym.    The  King  is  a  good  king  :  but  it  must  be  as 
it  may ;  he  passes  some  humours  and  careers. 

Pist.   Let  us  condole  the  knight ;  for  lambkins,  we 
will  live.  131 


SCENE  II.    Southampton.   A  council-chamber. 

Enter  EXETER,  BEDFORD,  and  WESTMORELAND. 
Bed.    'Fore  God,  his  grace  is  bold,  to  trust  these 

traitors.  ^f  (^^j^ 

Exe.    They  shall  be  apprehended  by  and  by. 
West.   How  smooth  and  even  they  do  bear  them- 
selves ! 

As  if  allegiance  in  their  bosoms  sat, 
Crowned  with  faith  and  constant  loyalty. 

Bed.   The  King  hath  note  of  all  that  they  intend, 
By  interception  which  they  dream  not  of. 

Exe.   Nay,  but  the  man  that  was  his  bedfellow, 
Whom  he  hath  dull'd  and  cloy'd   with  gracious  fa- 
vours, 

That  he  should,  for  a  foreign  purse,  so  sell  10 

His  sovereign's  life  to  death  and  treachery. 

Trumpets  sound.   Enter  KING  HENRY,  SCROOP,  CAMBRIDGE,  GREY, 
and  Attendants. 

K.  Hen.   Now   sits    the   wind   fair,    and   we   will 

aboard. 

My  Lord  of  Cambridge,  and  my  kind  Lord  of  Masham, 
And  you,  my  gentle  knight,  give  me  your  thoughts  : 

127.  fracted  =  broken.  So  in  Timon  of  Athens,  Act  II,  Sc.  i, 
1.22.  W. 

2.  by  and  by,  at  once. 

8.  his  bedfellow  :  so  Holinshed  says  :  the  practice  was  less 
uncommon  of  old  than  now.  W.  He  speaks  of  Lord  Scroop. 


52  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  II 

Think  you  not  that  the  powers  we  bear  with  us 
Will  cut  their  passage  through  the  force  of  France, 
Doing  the  execution  and  the  act 
For  which  we  have  in  head  assembled  them  ? 

Scroop.    No  doubt,  my  liege,  if  each  man  do  his 
best. 

JT.  Hen.    I  doubt  not  that ;  since  we  are  well  per- 
suaded 20 
We  carry  not  a  heart  with  us  from  hence 
That  grows  not  in  a  fair  consent  with  ours, 
Nor  leave  not  one  behind  that  doth  not  wish 
Success  and  conquest  to  attend  on  us. 

Cam,   Never  was  monarch  better  fear'd  and  lov'd 
Than  is  your  majesty ;  there  's  not,  I  think,  a  sub- 
ject 

That  sits  in  heart-grief  and  uneasiness 
Under  the  sweet  shade  of  your  government. 

Grey.  True  :  those  that  were  your  father's  enemies  * 
Have  steep'd  their  galls  in  honey,  and  do  serve  you  30 
With  hearts  create  of  duty  and  of  zeal. 

K.  Hen.    We  therefore  have  great  cause  of  thank- 
fulness ; 

And  shall  forget  the  office  of  our  hand, 
Sooner  than  quittance  of  desert  and  merit 
According  to  the  weight  and  worthiness. 

Scroop.    So  service  shall  with  steeled  sinews  toil, 
And  labour  shall  refresh  itself  with  hope, 
To  do  your  grace  incessant  services. 

K.  Hen.    We  judge  no  less.    Uncle  of  Exeter, 
Enlarge  the  man  committed  yesterday,  40 

That  raiFd  against  our  person :  we  consider 

21.  from  hence  :  the  from  is  unnecessary  and  incorrect.    Cf. 
II,  ii,  177,  181. 

40.  Enlarge  =  release. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  53 

It  was  excess  of  wine  that  set  him  on  ; 
And  on  his  more  advice  we  pardon  him. 

Scroop.   That 's  mercy,  but  too  much  security  : 
Let  him  be  punish'd,  sovereign,  lest  example 
Breed,  by  his  sufferance,  more  of  such  a  kind. 

K.  Hen.    O,  let  us  yet  be  merciful. 

Cam.    So  may  your  highness,  and  yet  punish  too. 

Grey.    Sir, 

You  show  great  mercy,  if  you  give  him  life,  50 

After  the  taste  of  much  correction. 

K.  Hen.    Alas,  your  too  much  love  and  care  of  me 
Are  heavy  orisons  'gainst  this  poor  wretch  ! 
If  little  faults,  proceeding  on  distemper, 
Shall  not  be  wink'd  at,  how  shall  we  stretch  our  eye 
When  capital  crimes,  chew'd,  swallow'd  and  digested, 
Appear  before  us  ?   We  '11  yet  enlarge  that  man, 
Though  Cambridge,  Scroop  and  Grey,  in  their  dear 

care 

And  tender  preservation  of  our  person, 
Would  have  him  punish'd.    And  now  to  our  French 
causes :  60 

Who  are  the  late  commissioners  ? 

Cam.    I  one,  my  lord  : 
Your  highness  bade  me  ask  for  it  to-day. 

Scroop.    So  did  you  me,  my  liege. 

Grey.    And  I,  my  royal  sovereign. 

K.  Hen.   Then,  Richard  Earl  of  Cambridge,  there 

is  yours ; 
There  yours,  Lord  Scroop  of  Masham  ;  and,  sir  knight, 

43.  more  advice  —  second  thoughts,  reflection.    W. 

51.  correction:  four  syllables.    W. 

54.  distemper  =  drunkenness,  as  in  Hamlet,  III,  ii,  314. 

58.  dear  —  extreme. 

61.  late  =  new.    W. 


54  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ ACT  II 

Grey  of  Northumberland,  this  same  is  yours  : 

Read  them,  and  know  I  know  your  worthiness. 

My  Lord  of  Westmoreland,  and  uncle  Exeter,          70 

We  will  aboard  to-night.    Why,  how  now,  gentlemen ! 

What  see  you  in  those  papers  that  you  lose 

So  much  complexion  ?    Look  ye,  how  they  change  ! 

Their  cheeks  are  paper.     Why,  what  read  you  there, 

That  hath  so  cowarded  and  chas'd  your  blood 

Out  of  appearance  ? 

Cam.  I  do  confess  my  fault ; 

And  do  submit  me^to  your  highness'  mercy. 

rey*      (  TO  which  we  all  appeal. 
Scroop.  } 

K.  Hen.    The  mercy  that  was  quick  in  us  but  late, 
By  your  own  counsel  is  suppress'd  and  kill'd :  80 

You  must  not  dare,  for  shame,  to  talk  of  mercy  ; 
For  your  own  reasons  turn  into  your  bosoms, 
As  dogs  upon  their  masters,  worrying  you. 
See  you,  my  princes  and  my  noble  peers, 
These  English  monsters  !  My  Lord  of  Cambridge  here, 
You  know  how^apt  our  love  was  to  accord 
To  furnish  him  with  all  appertinents 
Belonging  to  his  honour  ;  and  this  man 
Hath,  for  a  few  light  crowns,  lightly  conspir'd, 
And  sworn  unto  the  practices  of  France,  90 

To  kill  us  here  in  Hampton :  to  the  which 
This  knight,  no  less  for  bounty  bound  to  us 
Than  Cambridge  is,  hath  likewise  sworn.    But,  O, 
What  shall  I  say  to  thee,  Lord  Scroop  ?  thou  cruel, 
Ingrateful,  savage  and  inhuman  creature  ! 
Thou  that  didst  bear  the  key  of  all  my  counsels, 

79.  quick  =  alive. 

86.  apt  —  especially  inclined. 

90.  practices:  with  a  sinister,  ill  sense.    W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  55 

That  knew'st  the  very  bottom  of  my  soul, 

That  almost  mightst  have  coin'd  me  into  gold, 

Wouldst  thou  have  practis'd  on  me  for  thy  use, 

May  it  be  possible,  that  foreign  hire  100 

Could  out  of  thee  extract  one  spark  of  evil 

That  might  annoy  my  finger  ?  't  is  so  strange, 

That,  though  the  truth  of  it  stands  off  as  gross 

As  black  and  white,  my  eye  will  scarcely  see  it. 

Treason  and  murder  ever  kept  together, 

As  two  yoke-devils  sworn  to  either's  purpose, 

Working  so  grossly  in  a  natural  cause, 

That  admiration  did  not  whoop  at  them : 

But  thou,  'gainst  all  proportion,  didst  bring  in 

Wonder  to  wait  on  treason  and  on  murder :  110 

And  whatsoever  cunning  fiend  it  was 

That  wrought  upon  thee  so  preposterously 

Hath  got  the  voice  in  hell  for  excellence  : 

All  other  devils  that  suggest  by  treasons 

Do  botch  and  bungle  up  damnation 

With  patches,  colours,  and  with  forms  being  fetch'd 

From  glistering  semblances  of  piety  ; 

But  he  that  temper'd  thee  bade  thee  stand  up, 

Gave  thee  no  instance  why  thou  shouldst  do  treason, 

Unless  to  dub  thee  with  the  name  of  traitor.  120 

If  that  same  demon  that  hath  gull'd  thee  thus 

Should  with  his  lion  gait  walk  the  whole  world, 

He  might  return  to  vasty  Tartar  back, 

99.  practis'd  on :  commonly  with  a  bad  meaning,  as  in  1.  90. 
above. 

108.  admiration  —  wonder. 

113.  got  the  voice  =  become  the  first. 

119.  instance  =  pressing  motive. 

122.  his  lion  gait :  "  seeking  whom  he  may  devour."   1  Peter 
v,  8.   W. 

123.  Tartar  =  Tartarus. 


56  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  II 

And  tell  the  legions  I  can  never  win 
A  soul  so  easy  as  that  Englishman's. 
O,  how  hast  thou  with  jealousy  infected 
The  sweetness  of  affiance !     Show  men  dutiful  ? 
Why,  so  didst  thou:  seem  they  grave  and  learned? 
Why,  so  didst  thou :  come  they  of  noble  family  ? 
Why,  so  didst  thou  :  seem  they  religious?  130 

Why,  so  didst  thou :  or  are  they  spare  in  diet, 
Free  from  gross  passion  or  of  mirth  or  anger, 
Constant  in  spirit,  not  swerving  with  the  blood, 
Garnish'd  and  deck'd  in  modest  complement, 
Not  working  with  the  eye  without  the  ear, 
And  but  in  purged  judgement  trusting  neither? 
Such  and  so  finely  bolted  didst  thou  seem : 
And  thus  thy  fall  hath  left  a  kind  of  blot, 
To  mark  the  full-fraught  man  and  best  indued 
With  some  suspicion.    I  will  weep  for  thee  ;  140 

For  this  revolt  of  thine,  methinks,  is  like 
Another  fall  of  man.    Their  faults  are  open : 
Arrest  them  to  the  answer  of  the  law ; 
And  God  acquit  them  of  their  practices ! 

Exe.    I  arrest  thee  of  high  treason,  by  the  name  of 
Richard  Earl  of  Cambridge  : 

I  arrest  thee  of  high  treason,  by  the  name  of  Henry 
Lord  Scroop  of  Masham : 

I  arrest  thee  of  high  treason,  by  the  name  of  Thomas 
Grey,  knight,  of  Northumberland.  150 

Scroop.    Our  purposes  God  justly  hath  discover'd; 
And  I  repent  my  fault  more  than  my  death ; 
Which  I  beseech  your  highness  to  forgive, 
Although  my  body  pay  the  price  of  it. 

134.  complement  =  an  outward  appearance  corresponding  to 
their  minds. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  57 

Cam.    For  me,  the  gold  of  France  did  not  seduce : 
Although  I  did  admit  it  as  a  motive 
The  sooner  to  effect  what  I  intended : 
But  God  be  thanked  for  prevention ; 
Which  I  in  sufferance  heartily  will  rejoice, 
Beseeching  God  and  you  to  pardon  me.  160 

Grey.    Never  did  faithful  subject  more  rejoice 
At  the  discovery  of  most  dangerous  treason 
Than  I  do  at  this  hour  joy  o'er  myself, 
Prevented  from  a  damned  enterprise  : 
My  fault,  but  not  my  body,  pardon,  sovereign. 

K.  Hen.    God  quit  you  in  his  mercy !     Hear  your 

sentence. 

You  have  conspir'd  against  our  royal  person. 
Join'd  with  an  enemy  proclaim'd  and  from  his  coffers 
Received  the  golden  earnest  of  our  death ; 
Wherein  you  would  have  sold  your  king  to  slaughter, 
His  princes  and  his  peers  to  servitude,  171 

His  subjects  to  oppression  and  contempt 
And  his  whole  kingdom  into  desolation. 
Touching  our  person  seek  we  no  revenge ; 
But  we  our  kingdom's  safety  must  so  tender, 
Whose  ruin  you  have  sought,  that  to  her  laws 
We  do  deliver  you.    Get  you  therefore  hence, 
Poor  miserable  wretches,  to  your  death : 
The  taste  whereof,  God  of  his  mercy  give 
You  patience  to  endure,  and  true  repentance  180 

Of  all  your  dear  offences !    Bear  them  hence. 

[Exeunt  Cambridge,  Scroop,  and  Grey,  guarded. 

Now,  lords,  for  France ;  the  enterprise  whereof 
Shall  be  to  you,  as  us,  like  glorious. 
We  doubt  not  of  a  fair  and  lucky  war, 
Since  God  so  graciously  hath  brought  to  light 
169.  earnest  =  a  preliminary  payment. 


58  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  II 

This  dangerous  treason  lurking  in  our  way 

To  hinder  our  beginnings.    We  doubt  not  now 

But  every  rub  is  smoothed  on  our  way. 

Then  forth,  dear  countrymen  :  let  us  deliver 

Our  puissance  into  the  hand  of  God,  190 

Putting  it  straight  in  expedition. 

leerly  to  sea  ;  the  signs  of  war  advance  : 
king  of  England,  if  not  king  of  France.        [Exeunt. 


SCENE  III.    London.   Before  a  tavern. 
Enter  PISTOL,  Hostess,  NYM,  BARDOLPH,  and  Boy. 

Host.    Prithee,  honey-sweet  husband,  let  me  bring 
thee  to  Staines. 

Pist.    No  ;  for  my  manly  heart  doth  yearn. 
Bardolph,  be  blithe  :  Nym,  rouse  thy  vaunting  veins  : 
Boy,  bristle  thy  courage  up  ;  for  Falstaff  he  is  dead, 
And  we  must  yearn  therefore. 

Bard.    Would  I  were  with  him,  wheresome'er  he 
is,  either  in  heaven  or  in  hell  !  8 

Host.  Nay,  sure,  he  's  not  in  hell  :  he  's  in  Arthur's^ 
bosom,  if  ever  man  went  to  Arthur's  bosom.  A' 
made  a  finer  end  and  went  away  an  it  had  been  any 
christom  child;  a'  parted  even  just  between  twelve 
and  one,  even  at  the  turning  o'  th'  tide  :  for  after  I 
saw  him  fumble  with  the  sheets  and  play  with  flowers 
and  smile  upon  his  fingers'  ends,  I  knew  there  was  but 
one  way  ;  for  his  nose  was  as  sharp  as  a  pen,  and_a' 
babbled  of  green  fields.  "  How  now,  Sir  John  !  " 
quoth  I:  "  what,  man  !  be  o'  good  cheer."  So  a'  cried 
out  "  God,  God,  God  !  "  three  or  four  times.  Now  I, 

1.  bring  =  go  along  with. 

9.  Arthur's:  a  vague  recollection  of  Abraham's. 
16.  a'  babbled  of  green  fields.     This  is  an  emendation  ;  the 
original  reading  is  "  a  table  of  green  fields." 


SCENE  III]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  59 

to  comfort  him,  bid  him  a'  should  not  think  of  God  ; 
I  hop'd  there  was  no  need  to  trouble  himself  with  any 
such  thoughts  yet.  So  a'  bade  me  lay  more  clothes  on 
his  feet :  I  put  my  hand  into  the  bed  and  felt  them, 
and  they  were  as  cold  as  any  stone ;  then  I  felt  to  his 
knees,  and  they  were  as  cold  as  any  stone,  and  so 
up'ard  and  up'ard,  and  all  was  as  cold  as  any  stone. 

Nym.    They  say  he  cried  out  of  sack.  u<-~  i 

Host.   Ay,  that  a'  did.  / 

Bard.    And  of  women. 

Host.    Nay,  that  a'  did  not.  30 

Boy.  Yes,  that  a'  did;  and  said  they  were  devils 
incarnate. 

Host.  A'  could  never  abide  carnation;  't  was  a 
colour  he  never  lik'd. 

Boy.  A'  said  once,  the  Devil  would  have  him  about 
women. 

Host.  A'  did  in  some  sort,  indeed,  handle  women  ; 
but  then  he  was  rheumatic,  and  talk'd  of  the  whore 
of  Babylon.  39 

Boy.  Do  you  not  remember,  a'  saw  a  flea  stick 
upon  Bardolph's  nose,  and  a'  said  it  was  a  black 
soul  burning  in  hell-fire? 

Bard.  Well,  the  fuel  is  gone  that  maintained  that 
fire  :  that/fe  all  the  riches  I  got  in  his  service. 

Nym.  Shall  we  shog?  the  King  will  be  gone  from 
Southampton. 

Pist.   Come,  let 's  away.    My  love,  give  me  thy 

lips. 

Look  to  my  chattels  and  my  movables : 
Let  senses  rule ;  the  word  is  "  Pitch  and  Pay :  " 

38.  rheumatic  :  this  word,  which  is  to  be  accented  on  the 
first  syllable,  is  the  quondam  Mrs.  Quickly's  substitute  for 
lunatic.  W. 


60  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  II 

Trust  none ;  50 

For  oaths  are  straws,  men's  faiths  are  wafer-cakes, 

And  hold-fast  is  the  only  dog,  my  duck : 

Therefore,  Caveto  be  thy  counsellor. 

Go,  clear  thy  crystals.   Yoke-fellows  in  arms, 

Let  us  to  France ;  like  horse-leeches,  my  boys, 

To  suck,  to  suck,  the  very  blood  to  suck ! 

Boy.    And  that 's  but  unwholesome  food,  they  say. 

Pist.   Touch  her  soft  mouth,  and  march. 

Bard.    Farewell,  hostess.  [Kissing  her. 

Nym.    I   cannot   kiss,  that   is   the   humour  of  it ; 
but,  adieu.  61 

Pist.    Let  housewifery  appear :  keep  close,  I  thee 
command. 

Host.   Farewell ;  adieu.  [Exeunt. 

SCEXE  IV.   France.    The  KING'S  Palace. 

Flourish.  Enter  the  FRENCH  KING,  the  DAUPHIN,  the  DUKES  or  BERRI 
and  BRETAGNE,  the  CONSTABLE,  and  others. 

Fr.  King.    Thus  comes  the  English  with  full  power 

upon  us ; 

And  more  than  carefully  it  us  concerns 
To  answer  royally  in  our  defences. 
Therefore  the  Dukes  of  Berri  and  of  Bretagne, 
Of  Brabant  and  of  Orleans,  shall  make  forth, 
And  you,  Prince  Dolphin,  with  all  swift  dispatch, 
To  line  and  new  repair  our  towns  of  war 
With  men  of  courage  and  with  means  defendant ; 
For  England  his  approaches  makes  as  fierce 
As  waters  to  the  sucking  of  a^ulf.  10 

53.  Caveto  =  beware.    (Lat.)    W. 
7.  To  line  =  to  strengthen.   W. 

10.  gulf  means  here  something  like  a  maelstrom  which  sucks 
in  waters.    Cf.  IV,  iii,  82. 


SCENE  IV]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  61 

It  fits  us  then  to  be  as  provident 
As  fear  may  teach  us  out  of  late  examples 
Left  by  the  fatal  and  neglected  English 
Upon  our  fields. 

Dau.  My  most  redoubted  father, 

It  is  most  meet  we  arm  us  'gainst  the  foe ; 
For  peace  itself  should  not  so  dull  a  kingdom, 
Though  war  nor  no  known  quarrel  were  in  question, 
But  that  defences,  musters,  preparations, 
Should  be  maintain 'd,  assembled  and  collected, 
As  were  a  war  in  expectation.  20 

Therefore,  I  say  't  is  meet  we  all  go  forth 
To  view  the  sick  and  feeble  parts  of  France : 
And  let  us  do  it  with  no  show  of  fear ; 
No,  with  no  more  than  if  we  heard  that  England 
Were  busied  with  a  Whitsun  morris-dance  : 
For,  my  good  liege,  she  is  so  idly  king'd, 
Her  sceptre  so  fantastically  borne 
By  a  vain,  giddy,  shallow,  humorous  youth, 
That  fear  attends  herpiot. 

Con.  O  peace,  Prince  Dolphin  ! 

You  are  too  much  mistaken  in  this  king :  30 

Question  your  grace  the  late  ambassadors, 
With  what  great  state  he  heard  their  embassy, 
How  well  supplied  with  noble  counsellors, 
How  modest  in  exception,  and  withal 
How  terrible  in  constant  resolution, 
And  you  shall  find  his  vanities  forespent 

25.  morris-dance:  a  dance  in  which  the  performers  were 
dressed  in  fantastic  costumes  and  assumed  fantastic  charac- 
ters. W. 

27.  fantastically;  i.  e.  as  by  one  ruled  by  fancy  or  fantasy 
or,  as  in  the  next  line,  the  humour  of  any  moment. 

30.  This  slight  difference  of  opinion  indicates  real  factions  at 
the  French  court. 


62  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ ACT  II 

Were  but  the  outside  of  the  Roman  Brutus, 

Covering  discretion  with  a  coat  of  folly ; 

As  gardeners  do  with  ordure  hide  those  roots 

That  shall  first  spring  and  be  most  delicate.  40 

Dau.    Well,  'tis  not  so,  my  Lord  High  Consta- 
ble; 

But  though  we  think  it  so,  it  is  no  matter : 
In  cases  of  defence  't  is  best  to  weigh 
The  enemy  more  mighty  than  he  seems  : 
So  the  proportions  of  defence  are  fill'd ; 
Which  of  a  weak  and  niggardly  projection 
Doth,  like  a  miser,  spoil  his  coat  with  scanting 
A  little  cloth. 

Fr.  King.       Think  we  King  Harry  strong ; 
And,  princes,  look  you  strongly  arm  to  meet  him. 
The  kindred  of  him  hath  been  flesh'd  upon  us ;         50 
And  he  is  bred  out  of  that  bloody  strain. 
That  haunted  us  in  our  familiar  paths : 
Witness  our  too  much  memorable  shame 
When  Cressy  battle  fatally  was  struck, 
And  all  our  princes  captiv'd  by  the  hand 
Of  that  black  name,  Edward,  Black  Prince  of  Wales ; 
Whiles  that  his  mountain  sire,  on   mountain  .stand- 
ing* 

Up  in  the  air,  crown'd  with  the  golden  sun, 
Saw  his  heroical  seed,  and  smil'd  to  see  him, 
Mangle  -the  work  of  nature  and  deface  60 

The  patterns  that  by  God  and  by  French  fathers 
Had  twenty  years  been  made.    This  is  a  stem 
Of  that  victorious  stock  ;  and  let  us  fear 
The  native  mightiness  and  fate  of  him. 

50.  The  kindred  of  him,  etc.  =  members  of  his  family  have 
preyed  upon  us.    W. 
57.  Cf.  I,  ii,  108. 


SCENE  IV]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH 

Enter  a  Messenger. 

Mess.    Ambassadors  from  Harry  King  of  En| 
Do  crave  admittance  to  your  majesty. 

Fr.  King.    We  '11  give  them  present  audience.    Go, 

and  bring  them.      [Exeunt  Messenger  and  certain  Lords. 

You  see  this  chase  is  hotly  follow'd,  friends. 

Dau.   Turn  head,  and  stop  pursuit;  for  coward  dogs 
Most   spend  their  mouths  when  what  they  seem   to 
threaten  70 

Runs  far  before  them.    Good  my  sovereign, 
Take  up  the  English  short,  and  let  them  know 
Of  what  a  monarchy  you  are  the  head  : 
Self-love,  my  liege,  is  not  so  vile  a  sin 
As  self -neglecting. 

Re-enter  Lords,  with  EXETER  and  train. 
FT.  King.  From  our  brother  England  ?  < 

Exe.    From  him  ;  and  thus  he  greets  your  majesty. 
He  wills  you,  in  the  name  of  God  Almighty, 
That  you  divest  yourself,  and  lay  apart 
The  borrow'd  glories  that  by  gift  of  heaven, 
By  law  of  nature  and  of  nations,  'long  80 

To  him  and  to  his  heirs  ;  namely,  the  crown 
And  all  wide-stretched  honours  that  pertain 
By  custom  and  the  ordinance  of  times 
Unto  the  crown  of  France.    That  you  may  know 
'T  is  no  sinister  nor  no  awkward  claim, 
Pick'd  from  the  worm-holes  of  long-vanish'd  days, 
Nor  from  the  dust  of  old  oblivion  rak'd, 
He  sends  you  this  most  memorable  line, 
In  every  branch  truly  demonstrative  ; 
Willing  you  overlook  this  pedigree  ;  90 

And  when  you  find  him  evenly  deriv'd 
From  his  most  famed  of  famous  ancestors, 

90.  overlook  ;  not  iu  the  modern  sense. 


64  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  II 

Edward  the  Third,  he  bids  you  then  resign 
Your  crown  and  kingdom,  indirectly  held 
From  him  the  native  and  true  challenger. 

Fr.  King.   Or  else  what  follows  ? 

Exe.    Bloody  constraint ;  for  if  you  hide  the  crown 
Even  in  your  hearts,  there  will  he  rake  for  it : 
Therefore  in  fierce  tempest  is  he  coming, 
In  thunder  and  in  earthquake,  like  a  Jove,  100 

That,  if  requiring  fail,  he  will  compel ; 
And  bids  you,  in  the  bowels  of  the  Lord, 
Deliver  up  the  crown,  and  to  take  mercy 
On  the  poor  souls  for  whom  this  hungry  war 
Opens  his  vasty  jaws ;  and  on  your  head 
Turning  the  widows'  tears,  the  orphans'  cries, 
The  dead  men's  blood,  the  pining  maidens'  groans, 
For  husbands,  fathers  and  betrothed  lovers, 
That  shall  be  swallow'd  in  this  controversy. 
This  is  his  claim,  his  threatening  and  my  message ;  110 
Unless  the  Dolphin  be  in  presence  here, 
To  whom  expressly  I  bring  greeting  too. 

Fr.  King.    For  us,  we  will  consider  of  this  further : 
To-morrow  shall  you  tear  our  full  intent 
Back  to  our  brother  England. 

Dau.  For  the  Dolphin, 

I  stand  here  for  him :  what  to  him  from  England  ? 

Exe.    Scorn  and  defiance  ;  slight  regard,  contempt, 
And  any  thing  that  may  not  misbecome 
The  mighty  sender,  doth  he  prize  you  at. 
Thus  says  my  king  ;  an  if  your  father's  highness    120 
Do  not,  in  grant  of  all  demands  at  large, 
Sweeten  the  bitter  mock  you  sent  his  majesty, 
He  '11  call  you  to  so  hot  an  answer  of  it, 

102.  in  the  bowels  of  the  Lord:  taken  right  out  of  Hol- 
inshed.    W. 


SCENE  IV]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH 

That  caves  and  womby  vaultages  of  France 
Shall  chide  your  trespass  and  return  your  mock 
In  second  accent  of  his  ordinance. 

Dau.    Say,  if  my  father  render  fair  return, 
It  is  against  my  will ;  for  I  desire 
Nothing  but  odds  with  England :  to  that  end, 
As  matching  to  his  youth  and  vanity,  130 

I  did  present  him  with  the  Paris  balls. 

Exe.    He  '11  make  your  Paris  Louvre  shake  for  it, 
Were  it  the  mistress-court  of  mighty  Europe : 
And,  be  assur'd,  you  '11  find  a  difference, 
As  we  his  subjects  have  in  wonder  found, 
Between  the  promise  of  his  greener  days 
And  these  he  masters  now :  now  he  weighs  time 
Even  to  the  utmost  grain  :  that  you  shall  read 
In  your  own  losses,  if  he  stay  in  France. 

Fr.  King.    To-morrow  shall  you  know  our  mind  at 
full.  140 

JExe.    Dispatch  us  with  all  speed,  lest  that  our  king 
Come  here  himself  to  question  our  delay ; 
For  he  is  footed  in  this  land  already. 

Fr.  King.   You  shall  be  soon  dispatch'd  with  fair 

conditions : 

A  night  is  but  small  breath  and  little  pause 
To  answer  matters  of  this  consequence. 

[Flourish.   Exeunt. 

124.  womby  =  cavernous. 

126.  ordinance  =  ordnance  ;  rhythm  requires  the  older  tri- 
syllabic form.   W. 


66  KING  HElVRY  THE  FIFTH         [ ACT  III 

ACT  III 

PROLOGUE 
Enter  Chorus. 

Ohor.    Thus  with  imagin'd  wing  our  swift  scene  flies 
In  motion  of  no  less  celerity 

Than  that  of  thought.    Suppose  that  you  have  seen 
The  well-appointed  king  at  Hampton  pier 
Embark  his  royalty  ;  and  his  brave  fleet 
With  silken  streamers  the  young  Phoebus  fanning : 
Play  with  your  fancies,  and  in  them  behold 
Upon  the  hempen  tackle  ship-boys  climbing ; 
Hear  the  shrill  whistle  which  doth  order  give 
To  sounds  confus'd ;  behold  the  threaden  sails,         10 
Borne  with  the  invisible  and  creeping  wind, 
Draw  the  huge  bottoms  through  the  furrow'd  sea, 
Breasting  the  lofty  surge  :  O,  do  but  think 
You  stand  upon  the  rivage  and  behold 
A  city  on  the  inconstant  billows  dancing ; 
For  so  appears  this  fleet  majestical, 
Holding  due  course  to  Harfleur.    Follow,  follow : 
Grapple  your  minds  to  sternage  of  this  navy, 
And  leave  your  England,  as  dead  midnight  still, 

Prologue.  This  prologue  gives  us  a  fine  description  of  what 
could  not  have  been  presented  on  Shakespeare's  stage,  —  the  em- 
barkation of  the  King  and  his  army,  and  the  state  of  England 
left  behind.  We  have  a  good  example  of  Elizabethan  poetry 
in  place  of  what  in  a  modern  play  might  easily  be  spectacular 
realism. 

9.  whistle  of  the  boatswain. 

14.  rivage  =  bank.    (Fr.)    W. 

18.  sternage  :  possibly  we  should  read  steerage,  but  more 
probably  there  is  a  suggestion  of  the  general  notion  of  following 
the  fleet,  in  thought.  W. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH 

Guarded  with  grandsires,  babies  and  old  women, 
Either  past  or  not  arriv'd  to  pith  and  puissance ; 
For  who  is  he,  whose  chin  is  but  enrich'd 
"With  one  appearing  hair,  that  will  not  follow 
These  cull'd  and  choice-drawn  cavaliers  to  France  ? 
Work,  work  your  thoughts,  and  therein  see  a  siege ; 
Behold  the  ordnance  on  their  carriages, 
With  fatal  mouths  gaping  on  girded  Harfleur. 
Suppose  the  ambassador  from  the  French  comes  back ; 
Tells  Harry  that  the  King  doth  offer  him 
Katharine  his  daughter,  and  with  her,  to  dowry,       30 
Some  petty  and  unprofitable  dukedoms. 
The  offer  likes  not :  and  the  nimble  gunner 
With  linstock  now  the  devilish  cannon  touches, 

[Alarum,  and  chambers  go  off. 

And  down  goes  all  before  them.    Still  be  kind, 

And  eke  out  our  performance  with  your  mind.      [Exit. 

SCENE  I.    France.   Before  Harfleur. 

Alarum.  Enter  KING  HENRY,  EXETER,  BEDFORD,  GLOUCESTER,  and 
Soldiers,  with  scaling-ladders. 

K.  Hen.    Once  more  unto  the  breach,  dear  friends, 

once  more  ; 

Or  close  the  wall  up  with  our  English  dead. 
In  peace  there  's  nothing  so  becomes  a  man 
As  modest  stillness  and  humility : 
But  when  the  blast  of  war  blows  in  our  ears, 
Then  imitate  the  action  of  the  tiger ; 
Stiffen  the  sinews,  summon  up  the  blood, 
Disguise  fair  nature  with  hard-favour'd  rage ; 

20.  It  appears  that  there  were  more. 
27.  girded  by  besieging  forces. 
33.  linstock  =  port-fire.    W. 
35.  mind  ;  i.  e.  by  the  imagination. 


68  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [Acx  III 

Then  lend  the  eye  a  terrible  aspect ; 
Let  it  pry  through  the  portage  of  the  head  10 

Like  the  brass  cannon ;  let  the  brow  o'erwhelm  it 
As  fearfully  as  doth  a  galled  rock 
O'erhang  and  jutty  his  confounded  base, 
Swill'd  with  the  wild  and  wasteful  ocean. 
".Now  set  the  teeth  and  stretch  the  nostril  wide, 
Hold  hard  the  breath  and  bend  up  every  spirit 
To  his  full  height.    On,  on,  you  noblest  English 
,/W  hose  blood  is  fet  from  fathers  of  war-proof ! 
Fathers  that,  like  so  many  Alexanders, 
llave  in  these  parts  from  morn  till  even  fought        20 
And  sheath' d  their  swords  for  lack  of  argument : 
Dishonour  not  your  mothers  ;  now  attest 
/  » That  those  whom  you  call'd  fathers  did  beget  you. 
H  copy  now  to  men  of  grosser  blood, 
Aid  teach  them  how  to  war.    And  you,  good  yeomen, 
Wliose  limbs  were  made  in  England,  show^us  here 
The  mettle  of  your  pasture  ;  let  us  swear 
That  you  are  worth  your  breeding  ;  which  I  doubt  not ; 
For  there  is  none  of  you  so  mean  and  base, 
That  hath  not  noble  lustre  in  your  eyes.  30 

|  I  see  you  stand  like  greyhounds  in  the  slips, 
KStraining  upon  the  start.    The  game's  afoot : 
/    Follow  your  spirit,  and  upon  this  charge 

Cry  "  God  for  Harry,  England,  and  Saint  George !  " 
[Exeunt.   Alarum,  and  chambers  go  off. 

9.  aspect :  accented  on  the  last  syllable.    W. 

10.  portage  =  carriage. 

11.  let  ...  it;  i.  e.  frown. 

13.  confounded  =  mined. 

14.  wasteful  =  desert. 

18.  fet  =  fetched.   O.  E.  form.    W. 

24.  copy  =  example. 

27.  mettle.    Cf.  Ill,  v,  15,  29. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  69 

SCENE  II.    The  same. 

Enter  NYM,  BABDOLPH,  PISTOL,  and  Boy. 
Bard.    On,  on,  on,  on,  on!  to  the  breach,  to  the 
breach ! 

Nym.  Pray  thee,  corporal,  stay :  the  knocks  are  too 
hot ;  and,  for  mine  own  part,  I  have  not  a  case  of  lives : 
the  humour  of  it  is  too  hot,  that  is  the  very  plain-song 
of  it. 

Pist.    The  plain-song  is  most  just ;  for  humours  do 
abound  : 

Knocks  go  and  come  ;  God's  vassals  droop  and  die  : 
And  sword  and  shield, 

In  bloody  field,  JQ 

Doth  win  immortal  fame. 

Boy.    Would  I  were  in  an  alehouse  in  London  !   I 
would  give  all  my  fame  for  a  pot  of  ale  and  safety. 
Pist.   And  I : 

If  wishes  would  prevail  with  me, 
My  purpose  should  not  fail  with  me, 
But  thither  would  I  hie. 

Boy.   As  duly,  but  not  as  truly, 

As  bird  doth  sing  on  bough.  19 

Enter  FLUELLEN. 

Flu.   Up  to   the   preach,  you  dogs !   avaunt,  you 

Cullions  !  [Driving  them  forward. 

4.  case  =  a   box,  half  a  dozen,  referring  to  cases  in  which 
knives,  spoons,  etc.,  were  kept.    W. 

5.  plain-song  =  a  simple  melody  or  theme. 

8.  Knocks  go  and  come,  etc.  Pistol's  rhymes  are  quoted 
from  some  lost  ballad  or  ballads.  The  Boy's  speech,  line  18,  may 
be  so  likewise ;  but  more  probably  it  is  the  fruit  of  his  own  ready, 
saucy  wit.  W. 

20.  preach.     Fluellen's  dialect  is  worth  study.     It  will  be 
observed  that  it  consists  almost  entirely  in  substituting  voiceless 
consonants  for  voiced  at  the  beginning  of  a  word,  as  p  for  b,  as 
here,  f  for  v,  etc. 

21.  cullions  =  boobies,  gulls.    W. 


70  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH      s  [Acx  III 

Pist.   Be  merciful,  great  Duke,  to  men  of  mould. 
Abate  thy  rage,  abate  thy  manly  rage, 
Abate  thy  rage,  great  Duke  ! 

Good   bawcock,    bate    thy    rage ;    use    lenity,    sweet 
chuck !  25 

Nym.    These  be  good  humours !  your  honour  wins 

bad  humours.  [Exeunt  all  but  Boy. 

Boy.  As  young  as  I  am,  I  have  observ'd  these 
three  swashers.  I  am  boy  to  them  all  three  :  but  all 
they  three,  though  they  would  serve  me,  could  not  be 
man  to  me  ;  for  indeed  three  such  antics  do  not  amount 
to  a  man.  For  Bardolph,  he  is  white-liver'd  and  red- 
fac'd;  by  the  means  whereof  a'  faces  it  out,  but 
fights  not.  For  Pistol,  he  hath  a  killing  tongue  and  a 
quiet  sword ;  by  the  means  whereof  a'  breaks  words, 
and  keeps  whole  weapons.  For  Nym,  he  hath  heard 
that  men  of  few  words  are  the  best  men  ;  and  there- 
fore he  scorns  to  say  his  prayers,  lest  a'  should  be 
thought  a  coward :  but  his  few  bad  words  are  match'd 
with  as  few  good  deeds  ;  for  a'  never  broke  any  man's 
head  but  his  own,  and  that  was  against  a  post  when 
he  was  drunk.  They  will  steal  any  thing,  and  call  it 
purchase.  Bardolph  stole  a  lute-case,  bore  it  twelve 
leagues,  and  sold  it  for  three  half-pence.  Nym  and 
Bardolph  are  sworn  brothers  in  filching,  and  in  Calais 
they  stole  a  fire-shovel :  I  knew  by  that  piece  of  service 
the  men  would  carry  coals.  They  would  have  me  as 
familiar  with  men's  pockets  as  their  gloves  or  their 
handkerchers  :  which  makes  much  against  my  man- 
hood, if  I  should  take  from  another's  pocket  to  put 
into  mine ;  for  it  is  plain  pocketing  up  of  wrongs.  I 

22.  mould  =  earth  :  to  ordinary  men. 
25.  bawcock  =  beau  cocq,  IV,  i,  44. 
47.  carry  coals  =  perform  the  meanest  services.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  71 

must  leave  them,  and  seek  some  better  service :  their 

villany  goes  against  my  weak  stomach,  and  therefore 

I  must  cast  it  up.  [Exit. 

Re-enter  FLUELLEK,  GOWER  following. 

Gow.  Captain  Fluellen,  you  must  come  presently 
to  the  .mines ;  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  would  speak 
with  you.  57 

Flu.  To  the  mines !  tell  you  the  Duke,  it  is  not  so 
good  to  come  to  the  mines ;  for,  look  you,  the  mines 
is  not  according  to  the  disciplines  of  the  war  :  the  con- 
cavities of  it  is  not  sufficient ;  for,  look  you,  th'  ath- 
versary,  you  may  discuss  unto  the  Duke,  look  you,  is 
digt  himself  fou»  yard  unter  the  countermines:  by 
Cheshu,  I  think  a'  will  plow  up  all,  if  there  is  not 
petter  directions. 

Gow.  The  Duke  of  Gloucester,  to  whom  the  order 
of  the  siege  is  given,  is  altogether  directed  by  an  Irish- 
man, a  very  valiant  gentleman,  i'  faith. 

Flu.    It  is  Captain  Macmorris,  is  it  not  ? 

Gow.    I  think  it  be.  70 

Flu.    By  Cheshu,  he  is  an  ass,  as  in  the  worlt :  I 
will  ferify  as  much  in  his  peard :  he  has  no  more  di- 
rections in  the  true  disciplines  of  the  wars,  look  you, 
of  the  Roman  disciplines,  than  is  a  puppy-dog. ~ 
Enter  MACMORRIS  and  Captain  JAMT. 

Gow.  Here  a'  comes  ;  and  the  Scots  captain,  Cap- 
tain Jamy,  with  him. 

52.  leave  them :  he  did  stay  with  what  was  left  of  them  till 
after  Agincourt. 

55.  presently  —  at  once. 

56.  mines:  the  means  of  approaching  and  sometimes  destroy- 
ing the  enemies'  fortification. 

74.  Fluellen,  though  a  thoroughly  brave  man,  was  a  little 
pedantic.  See  just  below,  11.  79,  82,  97. 


72  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [Acx  HI 

Flu.  Captain  Jamy  is  a  marvellous  falorous  gen- 
tleman, that  is  certain ;  and  of  great  expedition  and 
knowledge  in  th'  aunchient  wars,  upon  my  particular 
knowledge  of  his  directions :  by  Cheshu,  he  will  main- 
tain his  argument  as  well  as  any  military  man  in  the 
worlt,  in  the  disciplines  of  the  pristine  wars  of  the 
Romans.  83 

Jamy.    I  say  gud-day,  Captain  Fluellen. 

Flu.   God-den  to  your  worship,  good  Captain  James. 

Gow.  How  now,  Captain  Macmorris !  have  you 
quit  the  mines  ?  have  the  pioners  given  o'er  ? 

Mac.  By  Chrish,  la!  tish  ill  done:  the  work  isk-— 
give  over,  the  trompet  sound  the  retreat.  By  my  hand, 
I  swear,  and  my  .father's  soul,  the  work  ish  ill  done ;  it 
ish  give  over :  I  would  have  blowed  up  the  town,  so 
Chrish  save  me,  la !  in  an  hour :  O,  tish  ill  done,  tish 
ill  done  ;  by  my  hand,  tish  ill  done  !  93 

Flu.  Captain  Macmorris,  I  peseech  you  now,  will 
you  voutsafe  me,  look  you,  a  few  disputations  with 
you,  as  partly  touching  or  concerning  the  disciplines 
of  the  war,  the  Roman  wars,  in  the  way  of  argument, 
look  you,  and  friently  communication  ;  partly  to  sat- 
isfy my  opinion,  and  partly  for  the  satisfaction,  look 
you,  of  my  mind,  as  touching  the  direction  of  the  mili- 
tary discipline;  that  is  the  point.  101 

Jamy.  It  sail  be  vary  gud,  gud  feith,  gud  captains 
baith :  and  I  sail  quit  you  with  gud  leve,  as  I  may 
pick  occasion ;  that  sail  I,  marry. 

Mac.  It  is  no  time  to  discourse,  so  Chrish  save  me : 
the  day  is  hot,  and  the  weather,  and  the  wars,  and  the 

88.  Macmorris's  dialect  is  only  slightly  indicated  by  substi- 
tuting sh  for  s.  Jamy,  on  the  other  hand,  does  just  the  opposite, 
as  do  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Highlanders.  He  has  also  one  or  two 
other  northern  peculiarities,  as  baith  for  both. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  73 

Kiiig,  and  the  dukes :  it  is  no  time  to  discourse.  The 
town  is  beseech'd,  and  the  trumpet  call  us  to  the 
breach  ;  and  we  talk,  and,  be  Chrish,  do  nothing :  't  is 
shame  for  us  all :  so  God  sa'  me,  't  is  shame  to  stand 
still ;  it  is  shame,  by  my  hand :  and  there  is  throats 
to  be  cut,  and  works  to  be  done ;  and  there  ish  no- 
thing done,  so  Chrish  sa'  me,  la !  113 

Jamy.  By  the  mess,  ere  theise  eyes  of  mine  take 
themselves  to  slomber,  ay  '11  de  gud  service,  or  ay  '11 
lig  i'  th'  grund  for  it ;  ay,  or  go  to  death ;  and  ay  '11 
pay't  as  valorously  as  I  may,  that  sail  I  suerly  do, 
that  is  the  breff  and  the  long.  Marry,  I  wad  full  fain 
heard  some  question  'tween  you  tway.  119 

Flu.  Captain  Macmorris,  I  think,  look  you,  under 
your  correction,  there  is  not  many  of  your  nation  — 

Mac.  Of  my  nation  !  What  ish  my  nation  ?  What 
ish  my  nation  ?  Who  talks  of  my  nation  ish  a  villain, 
and  a  bastard,  and  a  knave,  and  a  rascal. 

Flu.  Look  you,  if  you  take  the  matter  otherwise 
than  is  meant,  Captain  Macmorris,  peradventure  I 
shall  think  you  do  not  use  me  with  that  affability  as 
in  discretion  you  ought  to  use  me,  look  you ;  being  as 
goot  a  man  as  yourself,  both  in  the  disciplines  of  war, 
and  in  the  terivation  of  my  pirth,  and  in  other  particu- 
larities. 131 

Mac.  I  do  not  know  you  so  good  a  man  as  myself ; 
so  Chrish  save  me,  I  will  cut  off  your  head. 

Gow.  Gentlemen  both,  you  will  mistake  each 
other. 

Jamy.    A!    that 's  a  foul  fault.  [A  parley  sounded. 

122.  What  .  .  .  nation  ?  Macmorris  means  that  there  is  no 
question  of  different  nations  in  the  army. 

135.  A.  This  vowel  is  the  Scotch  exclamation  aw  !  It  had  that 
pronunciation  very  commonly  in  S.'s  day.  W. 


74  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [  ACT  III 

Gow.    The  town  sounds  a  parley. 

Flu.  Captain  Macmorris,  when  there  is  more  better 
opportunity  to  be  required,  look  you,  I  will  be  so  bold 
as  to  tell  you  I  know  the  disciplines  of  war  ;  and 
there  is  an  end.  [Exeunt. 


III.    The  same.    Before  the  gates. 

The  Governor  and  some  Citizens  on  the  walls  ;  the  English  forces  below. 
Enter  KING  HENRY  and  his  train. 

K.  Hen.    How  yet  resolves   the  governor  of   the 

town? 

This  is  the  latest  parle  we  will  admit: 
Therefore  to  our  best  mercy  give  yourselves  ; 
Or  like  to  men  proud  of  destruction 
Defy  us  to  our  worst  :  for,  as  I  am  a  soldier, 
A  name  that  in  my  thoughts  becomes  me  best, 
If  I  begin  the  battery  once  again, 
I  will  not  leave  the  half-achiev'd  Harfleur 
Till  in  her  ashes  she  lie  buried. 

The  gates  of  mercy  shall  be  all  shut  up,  10 

And  the  flesh'd  soldier,  rough  and  hard  of  heart, 
In  liberty  of  bloody  hand  shall  range 
With  conscience  wide  as  hell,  mowing  like  grass 
Your  fresh-fair  virgins  and  your  flowering  infants. 
What  is  it  then  to  me,  if  impious  war, 
Array'd  in  flames  like  to  the  prince  of  fiends, 
Do,  with  his  smirch'd  complexion,  all  fell  feats 
Enlink'd  to  waste  and  desolation  ? 
What  is  't  to  me,  when  you  yourselves  are  cause, 

2.  parle  =  parley,  as  in  Hamlet,  I,  i,  62. 

7.  battery  =  bombardment. 

11.  flesh'd  :  who  has  tasted  blood,  and  whose  animal  passions 
are  roused.  W.  If  a  town  were  taken  by  storm,  the  soldiers 
had  full  liberty  afterwards  to  do  as  they  pleased. 


SCENE  III]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  75 

If  your  pure  maidens  fall  into  the  hand  20 

Of  hot  and  forcing  violation  ? 

What  rein  can  hold  licentious  wickedness 

When  down  the  hill  he  holds  his1  fierce  career  ? 

We  may  as  bootless  spend  our  vain  command 

Upon  th'  enraged  soldiers  in  their  spoil 

As  send  precepts  to  the  leviathan 

To  come  ashore.    Therefore,  you  men  of  Harfleur, 

Take  pity  of  your  town  and  of  your  people, 

Whiles  yet  my  soldiers  are  in  my  command ; 

Whiles  yet  the  cool  and  temperate  wind  of  grace     30 

O'erblows  the  filthy  and  contagious  clouds 

Of  heady  murther,  spoil  and  villany. 

If  not,  why,  in  a  moment  look  to  see 

The  blind  and  bloody  soldier  with  foul  hand 

Defile  the  locks  of  your  shrill-shrieking  daughters ; 

Your  fathers  taken  by  the  silver  beards, 

And  their  most  reverend  heads  dash'd  to  the  walls, 

Your  naked  infants  spitted  upon  pikes, 

Whiles  the  mad  mothers  with  their  howls  confus'd 

Do  break  the  clouds,  as  did  the  wives  of  Jewry         40 

At  Herod's  bloody-hunting  slaughtermen. 

What  say  you  ?  will  you  yield,  and  this  avoid, 

Or,  guilty  in  defence,  be  thus  destroy'd  ? 

Gov.    Our  expectation  hath  this  day  an  end. 
The  Dolphin,  whom  of  succours  we  entreated, 
Returns  us  that  his  powers  are  yet  not  ready 
To  raise  so  great  a  siege.    Therefore,  great  King, 
We  yield  our  town  and  lives  to  thy  soft  mercy. 
Enter  our  gates ;  dispose  of  us  and  ours ; 
For  we  no  longer  are  defensible.  50 

26.  precepts  =  orders,  a  law  term :  accented  on  second  sylla- 
ble. W.  To  draw  the  leviathan  with  mere  precepts  was  more 
absurd  than  to  draw  him  with  a  hook  as  in  Job  xli,  1. 


76  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ACT  III 

K.  Hen.  Open  your  gates.    Come,  uncle  Exeter, 
Go  you  and  enter  Harfleur ;  there  remain, 
And  fortify  it  strongly  'gainst  the  French  : 
Use  mercy  to  them  all.    For  us,  dear  uncle, 
The  winter  coming  on  and  sickness  growing 
Upon  our  soldiers,  we  will  retire  to  Calais. 
To-night  in  Harfleur  we  will  be  your  guest ; 
To-morrow  for  the  march  are  we  addrest. 

[Flourish.    The  King  and  his  train  enter  the  town. 

SCENE  IV.    The  FRENCH  KING'S  palace. 
Enter  KATHARINE  and  ALICE. 

Kath.  Alice,  tu  as  ete  en  Angleterre,  et  tu  paries 
bien  le  langage. 

Alice.  Un  peu,  madame. 

Kath.  Je  te  prie,  m'enseignez;  il  faut  que  j'ap- 
prenne  a  parler.  Comment  appelez-vous  la  main  en 
Anglois  ? 

Alice.   La  main  ?  elle  est  appele'e  de  hand. 

Kath.   Dehand.    Etlesdoigts? 

Alice.  Lesdoigts?  ma  foi,  j'oublieles  doigts;  mais 
je  me  souviendrai.  Les  doigts?  je  pense  qu'ils  sont 
appeles  de  fingres;  oui,  de  fingres.  11 

56.   retire  :  a  map  will  show  the  course  of  this  retreat. 

Scene  IV.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  present  here  a  transla- 
tion of  this  amusing  scene.  The  princess  is  represented  as  pre- 
paring herself  for  the  conquest  of  Henry,  and  she  engages  her 
waiting  gentlewoman  to  teach  her  English.  Prefiguring  Ollen- 
dorf,  S.  has  her  taught  to  say  hand,  fingers,  nails,  arm,  elbow, 
neck,  and  chin,  which  Alice  tells  her  she  pronounces  as  well  as 
an  Englishwoman  born.  She  then  finds  out  that  the  English  for 
pied  is  foot,  and  for  robe  gown,  or,  as  Alice  pronounces  it,  coun; 
with  a  misapprehension  of  which  words  the  lesson  ends.  The 
scene  is  printed  in  the  folio  with  a  notable  approach  to  correct- 
ness; and  I  suspect  that  S.  was  assisted  in  its  composition  and  else 
where  in  this  play  by  a  better  French  scholar  than  himself.  W. 


SCENE  IV]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  11 

Kath.  La  main,  de  hand;  les  doigts,  de  fingres. 
Je  pense  que  je  suis  le  bon  e*colier ;  j'ai  gagne*  deux 
mots  d'Anglois  vitement.  Comment  appelez-vous  les 
ongles  ? 

Alice.   Les  ongles  ?  nous  les  appelons  de  nails. 

Kath.  De  nails.  Ecoutez ;  dites-moi,  si  je  parle 
bieii :  de  hand,  de  fingres,  et  de  nails. 

Alice.  C'est  bien  dit,  madame ;  il  est  fort  bon 
Anglois.  20 

Kaih.   Dites-moi  1'Anglois  pour  le  bras. 

Alice.    De  arm,  madame. 

Kaih.    Et  le  coude? 

Alice.    De  elbow. 

Kaih.  De  elbow.  Je  m'en  fais  la  repetition  de  tous 
les,  mots  que  vous  m'avez  appris  des  a  present. 

Alice.    II  est  trop  difficile,  madame,  comme  je  pense. 

Kaih.  Excusez-moi,  Alice ;  ecoutez :  de  hand,  de 
fingres,  de  nails,  de  arm  a,  de  bilbow. 

Alice.   De  elbow,  madame.  30 

Kaih.  O  Seigneur  Dieu,  je  m'en  oublie  !  de  elbow. 
Comment  appelez-vous  le  col  ?  — 

Alice.    De  neck,  madame. 

Kaih.    De  nick.    Et  le  menton  ?_ 

Alice.    De  chin. 

Kaih.    De  sin.    Le  col,  de  nick ;  le  menton,  de  sin.. 

Alice.  Oui.  Sauf  votre  honneur,  en  verite,  vous 
prononcez  les  mots  aussi  droit  que  les  natifs  d'An- 
gleterre. 

Kaih.  Je  ne  doute  point  d'apprendre,  par  la  grace 
de  Dieu,  et  en  peu  de  temps.  41 

Alice.  N'avez  vous  pas  de*ja  oublie  ce  que  je  vous 
ai  enseigne  ? 

Kaih.  Non,  je  reciterai  a  vous  promptement :  de 
hand,  de  fingres,  de  mails,  — 


78  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ACT  III 

Alice.    De  nails,  madame. 

Kath.    De  nails,  de  arm,  de  ilbow. 

Alice.    Sauf  votre  honneur,  de  elbow. 

Kath.  Ainsi  dis-je ;  de  elbow,  de  nick,  et  de  sin. 
Comment  appelez-vous  le  pied  et  la  robe  ?  50 

Alice.    De  foot,  madame  ;  et  de  coun. 

Kath.  De  foot  et  de  coun !  O  Seigneur  Dieu !  ce 
sont  mots  de  son  mauvais,  corruptible,  gros,  et  impu- 
dique,  et  non  pour  les  dames  d'honneur  d'user :  je  ne 
voudrais  prononcer  ces  mots  devant  les  seigneurs  de 
France  pour  tout  le  monde.  Fob !  le  foot  et  le  coun ! 
Neanmoins,  je  reciterai  une  autre  fois  ma  le^on  en- 
semble :  de  hand,  de  fingres,  de  nails,  de  arm,  de 
elbow,  de  nick,  de  sin,  de  foot,  de  coun. 

Alice.    Excellent,  madame  !  60 

Kath.  C'est  assez  pour  une  fois :  allons-nous  a 
diner.  [Exeunt, 

SCENE  V.    The  same. 

Enter  the  KING  OF  FRANCE,  the  DAUPHIN,  the  DUKE  OF  BOURBON,  the 
CONSTABLE  OF  FRANCE,  and  others. 

Fr.  King.    'T  is  certain  he  hath  pass'd  the  river 
Somme. 

Con.    And  if  he  be  not  fought  withal,  my  lord, 
Let  us  not  live  in  France ;  let  us  quit  all 
And  give  our  vineyards  to  a  barbarous  people. 

Dau.     O  Dieu  vivant !  shall  a  few  sprays  of  us, 
The  emptying  of  our  fathers'  luxury, 
Our  scions,  put  in  wild  and  savage  stock, 
Spurt  up  so  suddenly  into  the  clouds, 
And  overlook  their  grafters  ? 

4.  a  barbarous  people.  Even  in  S.'s  day  the  French,  the 
Italians,  and  the  Spaniards  regarded  the  English  as  semi-barba- 
rians. W. 


SCENE  V]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  79 

BOUT.    Normans,  but  bastard  Normans,   Norman 
bastards !  10 

Mort  de  ma  vie  !  if  they  march  along 
Unfought  withal,  but  I  will  sell  my  dukedom, 
To  buy  a  slobbery  and  a  dirty  farm 
In  that  nook-shotten  isle  of  Albion. 

Con.     Dieu  de  batailles !  where  have  they  this 

mettle  ? 

Is  not  their  climate  foggy,  raw  and  dull, 
On  whom,  as  in  despite,  the  sun  looks  pale, 
Killing  their  fruit  with  frowns  ?    Can  sodden  water, 
A  drench  for  sur-rein'd  jades,  their  barley-broth, 
Decoct  their  cold  blood  to  such  valiant  heat  ?  20 

And  shall  our  quick  blood,  spirited  with  wine, 
Seem  frosty  ?   O,  for  honour  of  our  land, 
Let  us  not  hang  like  roping  icicles 
Upon  our  houses'  thatch,  whiles  a  more  frosty  people 
Sweat  drops  of  gallant  youth  in  our  rich  fields ! 
Poor^we  may  call  them  in  their  native  lords. 

Dau.    By  faith  and  honour, 
Our  madams  mock  at  us,  and  plainly  say 
Our  mettle  is  bred  out  and  they  will  give 
Their  bodies  to  the  lust  of  English  youth  30 

To  new-store  France  with  bastard  warriors. 

BOUT.    They  bid  us  to  the  English  dancing-schools, 
And  teach  lavoltas  high  and  swift  corantos ; 
Saying  our  grace  is  only  in  our  heels, 
And  that  we  are  most  lofty  runaways. 

14.  nook-shotten  :  strangely  means  either  cut  up  into  nooks 
and  corners,  or  set  off  in  a  corner  by  itself  ;  and  strangely  either 
meaning  is  here  applicable.  W. 

19.  sur-rein'd  =  over-ridden.   W. 

33.  lavoltas  .  .  .  corantos  =  two  very  lively  Italian  dances. 
W. 


80  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ ACT  III 

Fr.  King.    Where  is  Montjoy  the  herald?   speed 

him  hence : 

Let  him  greet  England  with  our  sharp  defiance. 
Up,  princes  !  and,  with  spirit  of  honour  edg'd 
More  sharper  than  your  swords,  hie  to  the  field : 
Charles  Delabreth,  High  Constable  of  France ;         40 
You  Dukes  of  Orleans,  Bourbon,  and  of  Berri, 
Alen^on,  Brabant,  Bar,  and  Burgundy ; 
Jaques  Chatillon,  Rambures,  Vaudemont, 
Beaumont,  Grandpre,  Roussi,  and  Fauconberg, 
Foix,  Lestrale,  Bouciqualt,  and  Charolois ; 
High  dukes,  great  princes,  barons,  lords  and  knights, 
For  your  great  seats  now  quit  you  of  great  shames. 
Bar  Harry  England,  that  sweeps  through  our  land 
With  pennons  painted  in  the  blood  of  Harfleur : 
Rush  on  his  host,  as  doth  the  melted  snow  50 

Upon  the  valleys,  whose  low  vassal  seat 
The  Alps  doth  spit  and  void  his  rheum  upon : 
Go  down  upon  him,  you  have  power  enough, 
And  in  a  captive  chariot  into  Rouen 
Bring  him  our  prisoner. 

Con.  This  becomes  the  great. 

Sorry  am  I  his  numbers  are  so  few, 
His  soldiers  sick  and  famish'd  in  their  march, 
For  I  am  sure,  when  he  shall  see  our  army, 
He  '11  drop  his  heart  into  the  sink  of  fear  \ 

And  for  achievement  offer  us  his  ransom.          ^/  60 

40.  Charles  Delabreth.  So  Holinshed.  The  name  is  D'Al- 
bret.  S.  took  the  names  as  he  found  them  in  Holinshed,  and  it 
is  well  for  us  to  be  content  with  them.  W.  The  enumeration 
of  the  killed  and  prisoners  at  Agincourt,  IV,  viii,  69-95,  accounts 
for  almost  all  these  gentlemen. 

47.  For  .  .  .  shames.  The  greater  their  possessions  the 
greater  the  shame  in  allowing  the  English  in  the  land. 


SCENE  VI]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  81 

FT.  King.   Therefore,    Lord   Constable,   haste   on 

Mont  joy, 

And  let  him  say  to  England  that  we  send 
To  know  what  willing  ransom  he  will  give. 
Prince  Dolphin,  you  shall  stay  with  us  in  Rouen. 

Dau.    Not  so,  I  do  beseech  your  majesty. 

Fr.  King.    Be  patient,  for  you  shall  remain  with  us. 
Now  forth,  Lord  Constable  and  princes  all, 
And  quickly  bring  us  word  of  England's  fall.     [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI.    The  English  camp  in  Picardy. 
Enter  GOWER  and  FLUELLEN,  meeting. 

Gow.  How  now,  Captain  Fluellen  !  come  you  from 
the  bridge  ? 

Flu.  I  assure  you,  there  is  very  excellent  services 
committed  at  the  pridge. 

Gow.    Is  the  Duke  of  Exeter  safe  ? 

Flu.  The  Duke  of  Exeter  is  as  magnanimous  as 
Agamemnon ;  and  a  man  that  I  love  and  honour  with 
my  soul,  and  my  heart,  and  my  duty,  and  my  life,  and 
my  living,  and  my  uttermost  power  :  he  is  not  —  Got 
pe  praised  and  blessed  !  —  any  hurt  in  the  world  ;  but 
keeps  the  pridge  most  faliantly,  with  excellent  disci- 
pline. There  is  an  aunchient  lieutenant  there  at  the 
pridge,  I  think  in  my  very  conscience  he  is  as  faliant  a 
man  as  Mark  Antony  ;  and  he  is  a  man  of  no  estimation 
in  the  world;  but  I  did  see  him  do  as  gallant  service. 

2.  the  bridge:  an  historical  incident.  The  bridge  was  over  the 
Ternois,  on  the  road  to  Calais.  The  French  attempted  to  break 
it  down,  but  Henry  seized,  held,  and  crossed  it.  W. 

6.  magnanimous  =  high-spirited. 

7.  Agamemnon  :     notice    Fluellen's   classical   comparisons, 
Agamemnon  and  Antony  in  this  scene,  Alexander  in  IV,  vii. 

15.  service  :  just  what  kind  of  service  we  may  judge  from 
IV,  iv.  Fluellen  learns  to  judge  more  accurately  later.  Cf.  V,  i. 


82  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [Acx  III 

Gow.    What  do  you  call  him  ? 

Flu.    He  is  called  Aunchient  Pistol. 

Gow.    I  know  him  not. 

Enter  PISTOL. 

Flu.    Here  is  the  man.  19 

Pist.    Captain,  I  thee  beseech  to  do  me  favours  : 
The  Duke  of  Exeter  doth  love  thee  well. 

Flu.  Ay,  I  praise  Got ;  and  I  have  merited  some 
love  at  his  hands. 

Pist.    Bardolph,  a  soldier,  firm  and  sound  of  heart, 
And  of  buxom  valour,  hath,  by  cruel  fate, 
And  giddy  Fortune's  furious  fickle  wheel, 
That  goddess  blind, 
That  stands  upon  the  rolling  restless  stone  —  28 

Flu.  By  your  patience,  Aunchient  Pistol.  For- 
tune is  painted  plind,  with  a  muffler  afore  her  eyes, 
to  signify  to  you  that  Fortune  is  plind ;  and  she  is 
painted  also  with  a  wheel,  to  signify  to  you,  which  is 
the  moral  of  it,  that  she  is  turning,  and  inconstant, 
and  mutability,  and  fariation ;  and  her  foot,  look 
you,  is  fixed  upon  a  spherical  stone,  which  rolls,  and 
rolls,  and  rolls  :  in  good  truth,  the  poet  makes  a  most 
excellent  description  of  it:  Fortune  is  an  excellent 
moral. 

Pist.    Fortune  is  Bardolph's   foe,  and  frowns  on 

him ; 

For  he  hath  stolen  a  pax,  and  hanged  must  a'  be :    40 
A  damned  death ! 

Let  gallows  gape  for  dogs ;  let  man  go  free 
And  let  not  hemp  his  wind-pipe  suffocate : 

33.  moral  =  moral  lesson.    Cf.  IV,  i,  12. 

40.  stolen  a  pax  :  an  historical  incident.  It  was,  however,  a 
pix,  a  vessel  for  the  consecrated  wafer,  that  was  stolen.  Henry 
hanged  the  thief  out  of  hand.  W. 


SCENE  VI]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  83 

But  Exeter  hath  given  the  doom  of  death 

For  pax  of  little  price. 

Therefore,  go  speak :  the  Duke  will  hear  thy  voice ; 

And  let  not  Bardolph's  vital  thread  be  cut 

With  edge  of  penny  cord  and  vile  reproach : 

Speak,  captain,  for  his  life,  and  I  will  thee  requite. 

Flu.  Aunchient  Pistol,  I  do  partly  understand  your 
meaning.  51 

Pist.    Why  then,  rejoice  therefore. 

Flu.  Certainly,  aunchient,  it  is  not  a  thing  to  re- 
joice at :  for  if,  look  you,  he  were  my  brother,  I  would 
desire  the  Duke  to  use  his  good  pleasure,  and  put  him 
to  execution  ;  for  discipline  ought  to  be  us'd. 

Pist.   Die  and  be  damn'd  !  andjigo  for  thy  friend- 
ship ! 

Flu.   It  is  well. 

Pist.    The  fig  of  Spain.  [Exit. 

Flu.   Fery  good.  60 

Gow.  Why,  this  is  an  arrant  counterfeit  rascal ;  I 
remember  him  now  ;  a  bawd,  a  cutpurse. 

Flu.  I  '11  assure  you,  a'  utt'red  as  prave  words  at 
the  pridge  as  you  shall  see  in  a  summer's  day.  But  it 
is  fery  well ;  what  he  has  spoke  to  me,  that  is  well,  I 
warrant  you,  when  time  is  serve. 

Gow.  Why,  't  is  a  gull,  a  fool,  a  rogue,  that  now 
and  then  goes  to  the  wars,  to  grace  himself  at  his  re- 
turn into  London  under  the  form  of  a  soldier.  And 
such  fellows  are  perfect  in  the  great  commanders' 
names  ;  and  they  will  learn  you  by  rote  where  ser- 
vices were  done  ;  at  such  and  such  a  sconce,  at  such 
a  breach,  at  such  a  convoy ;  who  came  off  bravely, 
who  was  shot,  who  disgrac'd,  what  terms  the  enemy 

57.  figo  =  a  fig.   W. 

72.  sconce  :  a  slight  fortification. 


84  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ACT  III 

stood  on ;  and  this  they  con  perfectly  in  the  phrase  of 
war,  which  they  trick  up  with  new-tuned  oaths  :  and 
what  a  beard  of  the  general's  cut  and  a  horrid  suit  of 
the  camp  will  do  among  foaming  bottles  and  ale-wash'd 
wits,  is  wonderful  to  be  thought  on.  But  you  must 
learn  to  know  such  slanders  of  the  age,  or  else  you 
may  be  marvellously  mistook.  81 

Flu.  I  tell  you  what,  Captain  Gower;  I  do  per- 
ceive he  is  not  the  man  that  he  would  gladly  make 
show  to  the  world  he  is :  if  I  find  a  hole  in  his  coat, 
I  will  tell  him  my  mind.  [Drum  heard.']  Hark  you, 
the  King  is  coming,  and  I  must  speak  with  him  from 
the  pridge. 

Drum  and  colours.     Enter  KING  HENRY,  GLOUCESTER,  and  Soldiers. 
God  pless  your  majesty  ! 

K.  Hen.  How  now,  Fluellen!  cam'st  thou  from 
the  bridge  ?  90 

Flu.  Ay,  so  please  your  majesty.  The  Duke  of 
Exeter  has  very  gallantly  maintained  the  pridge  :  the 
French  is  gone  off,  look  you  ;  and  there  is  gallant  and 
most  prave  passages ;  marry,  th'  athversary  was  have 
possession  of  the  pridge ;  but  he  is  enforced  to  retire, 
and  the  Duke  of  Exeter  is  master  of  the  pridge  :  I  can 
tell  your  majesty,  the  Duke  is  a  prave  man. 

K.  Hen.    What  men  have  you  lost,  Fluellen  ?        98 

Flu.  The  perdition  of  th'  athversary  hath  been 
very  great,  reasonable  great:  marry,  for  my  part,  I 
think  the  Duke  hath  lost  never  a  man,  but  one  that  is 
like  to  be  executed  for  robbing  a  church,  one  Bardolph, 
if  your  majesty  know  the  man  :  his  face  is  all  bubukles, 
and  whelks,  and  knobs,  and  flames  o'  fire :  and  his 

84.  if  ...  coat :  if  I  can  find  fault  with  him. 

94.  was  have  =  had. 

99.  perdition:  Fluellen's  pedantry. 


SCENE  VI]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  85 

lips  blows  at  his  nose,  and  it  is  like  a  coal  of  fire, 
sometimes  plue  and  sometimes  red ;  but  his  nose  is 
executed,  and  his  fire  's  out.  107 

K.  Hen^/We  would  have  all  such  offenders  so  cut 
off :  and  we  give  express  charge,  that  in  our  marches 
through  the  country,  there  be  nothing  compelled  from 
the  villages,  nothing  taken  but  paid  for,  none  of  the 
French  upbraided  or  abused  in  disdainful  language ; 
for  when  lenity  and  cruelty  play  for  a  kingdom,  the 
gentler  gamester  is  the  soonest  winner. 

Tucket.   Enter  MONTJOY. 

Mont.    You  know  me  by  my  habit. 

K.  Hen.  Well  then  I  know  thee :  what  shall  I 
know  of  thee  ? 

Mont.    My  master's  mind. 

K.  Hen.    Unfold  it.  119 

Mont.  Thus  says  my  King  :  Say  thou  to  Harry  of 
England :  Though  we  seem'd  dead,  we  did  but  sleep  : 
advantage  is  a  better  soldier  than  rashness.  Tell  him 
we  could  have  rebuk'd  him  at  Harfleur,  but  that  we 
thought  not  good  to  bruise  an  injury  till  it  were  full 
ripe:  now  we  speak  upon  our  cue,  and  our  voice  is 
imperial :  England  shall  repent  his  folly,  see  his  weak- 
ness, and  admire  our  sufferance.  Bid  him  therefore 
consider  of  his  ransom  ;  which  must  proportion  the 
losses  we  have  borne,  the  subjects  we  have  lost,  the 
disgrace  we  have  digested;  which  in  weight  to  re- 
answer,  his  pettiness  would  bow  under.  For  our  losses, 
his  exchequer  is  too  poor;  for  the  effusion  of  our 
blood,  the  muster  of  his  kingdom  too  faint  a  number  ; 
and  for  our  disgrace,  his  own  person,  kneeling  at  our 

115.  habit:  the  herald's  tabard  was  blazoned  with  his  special 
insignia. 

126.  England  -  the  King  of  England.     Cf.  II,  Prol.  20. 


86  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  III 

feet,  but  a  weak  and  worthless  satisfaction.  To  this 
add  defiance:  and  tell  him,  for  conclusion,  he  hath 
betrayed  his  followers,  whose  condemnation  is  pro- 
nounc'd.  So  far  my  King  and  master ;  so  much  my 
office.  139 

K.  Hen.   What  is  thy  name  ?    I  know  thy  quality. 

Mont.    Mont  joy. 

K.  ffen.vfhou  dost  thy  office  fairly.     Turn  thee 

back, 

And  tell  thy  King  I  do  not  seek  him  now ; 
But  could  be  willing  to  march  on  to  Calais 
Without  impeachment :  for,  to  say  the  sooth, 
Though  't  is  no  wisdom  to  confess  so  much 
Unto  an  enemy  of  craft  and  vantage, 
My  people  are  with  sickness  much  enfeebled, 
My  numbers  lessen'd,  and  those  few  I  have 
Almost  no  better  than  so  many  French  ;  150 

Who  when  they  were  in  health,  I  tell  thee,  herald, 
I  thought  upon  one  pair  of  English  legs 
Did  march  three  Frenchmen.   Yet,  forgive  me,  God, 
That  I  do  brag  thus !    This  your  air  of  France 
Hath  blown  that  vice  in  me ;  I  must  repent. 
Go  therefore,  tell  thy  master  here  I  am  ; 
My  ransom  is  this  frail  and  worthless  trunk, 
My  army  but  a  weak  and  sickly  guard ; 
Yet,  God  before,  tell  him  we  will  come  on,  159 

Though  France  himself  and  such  another  neighbour 
Stand  in  our  way.    There  's  for  thy  labour,  Mont- 
joy- 

139.  office  =  special  duty,  as  in  1.  142. 

140.  quality  —  profession.    Henry  knew  him  to  be  the  French 
herald  from  his  tabard. 

159.  God  before  —  God    leading    and   aiding.    Henry  was 
always  rery  devout  and  God-glorifying.   W. 


SCENE  VII]    KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  87 

Go,  bid  thy  master  well  advise  himself : 

If  we  may  pass,  we  will ;  if  we  be  hinder'd, 

We  shall  your  tawny  ground  with  your  red  blood 

Discolour  :  and  so,  Montjoy,  fare  you  well. 

The  sum  of  all  our  answer  is  but  this : 

We  would  not  seek  a  battle,  as  we  are ; 

Nor,  as  we  are,  we  say  we  will  not  shun  it : 

So  tell  your  master.  169 

Mont.  I  shall  deliver  so.  Thanks  to  your  high- 
ness. [Exit. 

Glou.    I  hope  they  will  not  come  upon  us  now. 

K.  Hen.    We  are   in  God's  hand,  brother,  not  in 

theirs. 

March  to  the  bridge ;  it  now  draws  toward  night : 
Beyond  the  river  we  '11  encamp  ourselves, 
And  on  to-morrow  bid  them  march  away.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VII.    The  French  camp,  near  Agincourt. 

Enter  the  CONSTABLE  OF  FRANCE,  the  LORD  RAMBURES,  ORLEANS, 
DAUPHIN,  with  others. 

Con.  Tut !  I  have  the  best  armour  of  the  world. 
Would  it  were  day ! 

Orl.  You  have  an  excellent  armour;  but  let  my 
horse  have  his  due. 

Con.    It  is  the  best  horse  of  Europe. 

Orl.    Will  it  never  be  morning  ? 

164.  your  tawny  ground,  etc. :  taken  right  out  of  Holinshed: 
"  and  yet  I  wish  not  anie  of  you  so  unadvised,  as  to  be  the  occa- 
sion that  I  die  your  tawnie  ground  with  your  red  bloud  ; "  and 
Holinshed  took  it  from  the  preceding  chronicler,  Hall.  W. 

Scene  VII.  This  scene  gives  us  excellently  the  difference 
between  talking  and  doing.  The  French  in  their  talk  of  their 
armor  and  horses  are  most  effective,  especially  the  Dauphin; 
his  only  match  in  the  English  army  is  Pistol, 


88  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ACT  III 

Dau.  My  Lord  of  Orleans,  and  my  Lord  High 
Constable,  you  talk  of  horse  and  armour? 

Orl.  You  are  as  well  provided  of  both  as  any  prince 
in  the  world.  10 

Dau.  What  a  long  night  is  this !  I  will  not  change 
my  horse  with  any  that  treads  but  on  four  pasterns. 
Ca,  ha!  he  bounds  from  the  earth,  as  if  his  entrails 
were  hairs  ;  le  cheval  volant,  the  Pegasus,  chez  les 
V  r  narines  de  feu  !  When  I  bestride  him,  I  soar,  I  am 
a  hawk :  he  trots  the  air ;  the  earth  sings  when  he 
touches  it ;  the  basest  horn  of  his  hoof  is  more  musi- 
cal than  the  pipe  of  Hermes. 

Orl.   He 's  of  the  colour  of  the  nutmeg.  19 

Dau.  And  of  the  heat  of  the  ginger.  It  is  a  beast 
for  Perseus  :  he  is  pure  air  and  fire  ;  and  the  dull 
elements  of  earth  and  water  never  appear  in  him,  but 
only  in  patient  stillness  while  his  rider  mounts  him  : 
he  is  indeed  a  horse ;  and  all  other  jades  you  may  call 
beasts. 

Con.  Indeed,  my  lord,  it  is  a  most  absolute  and 
excellent  horse. 

Dau.  It  is  the  prince  of  palfreys  ;  his  neigh  is  like 
the  bidding  of  a  monarch  and  his  countenance  en- 
forces homage.  30 

Orl.    No  more,  cousin. 

Dau.  Nay,  the  man  hath  no  wit  that  cannot,  from 
the  rising  of  the  lark  to  the  lodging  of  the  lamb,  vary 
deserved  praise  on  my  palfrey  :  it  is  a  theme  as  fluent 

13.  entrails  were  hairs.  Tennis  balls  were  stuffed  with 
hair,  le  cheval  volant  =  the  flying  horse,  chez  les  narines 
de  feu  =  with  fire-breathing  nostrils.  W. 

21.  Perseus  :  son  of  Danae  by  Jupiter.  He  had  winged  san- 
dals, and  in  the  literature  just  preceding  S.'s  day,  his  ship  was 
called  his  flying  horse.  W. 

26.  absolute  =  perfect,  unexceptionable.    W. 


SCENE  V.I]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  89 

as  the  sea :  turn  the  sands  into  eloquent  tongues,  and 
my  horse  is  argument  for  them  all :  't  is  a  subject  for 
a  sovereign  to  reason  on,  and  for  a  sovereign's  sover- 
eign to  ride  on ;  and  for  the  world,  familiar  to  us  and 
unknown,  to  lay  apart  their  particular  functions  and 
wonder  at  him.  I  once  writ  a  sonnet  in  his  praise  and 
began  thus  :  "  Wonder  of  nature,"  —  41 

Orl.  I  have  heard  a  sonnet  begin  so  to  one's  mis- 
tress. 

Dau.  Then  did  they  imitate  that  which  I  com- 
pos'd  to  my  courser,  for  my  horse  is  my  mistress. 

Orl.    Your  mistress  bears  well. 

Dau.  Me  well ;  which  is  the  prescript  praise  and 
perfection  of  a  good  and  particular  mistress. 

Con.  Nay,  for  methought  yesterday  your  mistress 
shrewdly  shook  your  back.  50 

Dau.    So  perhaps  did  yours. 

Con.    Mine  was  not  bridled. 

Dau.  O  then  belike  she  was  old  and  gentle ;  and 
you  rode,  like  a  kern  of  Ireland,  your  French  hose  off, 
and  in  your  straight  strossers. 

Con.  You  have  good  judgement  in  horseman- 
ship. 

Dau.  Be  warn'd  by  me,  then  :  they  that  ride  so 
and  ride  not  warily,  fall  into  foul  bogs.  I  had  rather 
have  my  horse  to  my  mistress.  60 

Con.    I  had  as  lief  have  my  mistress  a  jade. 
Dau.   I  tell  thee,  Constable,  my  mistress  wears  his 
own  hair. 

54.  kern  =  an  Irish  foot-soldier,  strait  strossers  =  tight 
trousers.  W. 

62.  -wears  his  own  hair.  One  of  the  very  few  personal  feel- 
ings on  the  part  of  S.  which  appear  in  his  plays  was  a  great  dis- 
like of  the  fashion  of  wearing  false  hair  and  dyeing  the  hair, 
which  was  common  among  women  in  his  day.  W. 


90  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          ,;ACT  III 

Con.  I  could  make  as  true  a  boast  as  that,  •£.  I  had 
a  sow  to  my  mistress. 

Dau.  "  Le  chien  est  retourne  a  son  propre  vomisse- 
ment,  et  la  truie  lavee  au  bourbier:  "  thou  mak'st  use 
of  any  thing. 

Con.  Yet  do  I  not  use  my  horse  for  my  mistress, 
or  any  such  proverb  so  little  kin  to  the  purpose.  70 

Ram.  My  Lord  Constable,  the  armour  that  I  saw 
in  your  tent  to-night,  are  those  stars  or  suns  upon  it? 

Con.    Stars,  my  lord. 

Dau.    Some  of  them  will  fall  to-morrow,  I  hope. 

Con.    And  yet  my  sky  shall  not  want. 

Dau.  That  may  be,  for  you  bear  a  many  superflu- 
ously, and  't  were  more  honour  some  were  away. 

Con.  Even  as  your  horse  bears  your  praises  ;  who 
would  trot  as  well,  were  some  of  your  brags  dismounted. 

Dau.  Would  I  were  able  to  load  him  with  his  desert ! 
Will  it  never  be  day  ?  I  will  trot  to-morrow  a  mile,  and 
my  way  shall  be  paved  with  English  faces.  82 

Con.  I  will  not  say  so,  for  fear  I  should  be  fac'd 
out  of  my  way :  but  I  would  it  were  morning  ;  for  I 
would  fain  be  about  the  ears  of  the  English. 

Ram.  Who  will  go  to  hazard  with  me  for  twenty 
prisoners  ? 

Con.  You  must  first  go  yourself  to  hazard,  ere  you 
have  them. 

Dau.    'T  is  midnight ;  I  '11  go  arm  myself.         [Exit. 

Orl.   The  Dolphin  longs  for  morning.  91 

Ram.    He  longs  to  eat  the  English. 

Con.    I  think  he  will  eat  all  he  kills. 

66.  Le  chien  est  retourne',  etc.  —  the  dog  is  returned  to  his 
vomit,  etc.  W. 

93.  I  ...  kills  :  a  common  quip.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  I,  i,  36, 
"  for  indeed  I  promised  to  eat  all  of  his  killing." 


SCENE  VII]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  91 

Orl.  By  the  white  hand  of  my  lady,  he 's  a  gallant 
prince. 

Con.  Swear  by  her  foot,  that  she  may  tread  out 
the  oath. 

Orl.  He  is  simply  the  most  active  gentleman  of 
France. 

Con.   Doing  is  activity ;   and  he  will  still  be  doing. 

Orl.    He  never  did  harm,  that  I  heard  of.  101 

Con.  Nor  will  do  none  to-morrow :  he  will  keep 
that  good  name  still. 

Orl.    I  know  him  to  be  valiant. 

Con.  I  was  told  that  by  one  that  knows  him  better 
than  you. 

Orl.    What 'she? 

Con.  Marry,  he  told  me  so  himself ;  and  he  said 
he  car'd  not  who  knew  it. 

Orl.    He  needs  not ;  it  is  no  hidden  virtue  in  him. 

Con.  By  my  faith,  sir,  but  it  is ;  never  any  body 
saw  it  but  his  lackey ;  't  is  a  hooded  valour ;  and  when 
it  appears,  it  will  bate.  113 

Orl.    Ill  will  never  said  well. 

Con.  I  will  cap  that  proverb  with  "  There  is  flat- 
tery in  friendship." 

Orl.  And  I  will  take  up  that  with  "  Give  the  Devil 
his  due." 

Con.  Well  plac'd;  there  stands  your  friend  for 
the  Devil :  have  at  the  very  eye  of  that  proverb  with 
"  A  pox  of  the  Devil."  121 

Orl.  You  are  the  better  at  proverbs,  by  how  much 
"  A  fool's  bolt  is  soon  shot." 

Con.   You  have  shot  over. 

Orl.    'T  is  not  the  first  time  you  were  overshot. 

112.  hooded  .  .  .  bate  :  terms  of  falconry  of  obvious  mean- 
ing.   W. 


92  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH         [ACT  III 

Enter  a  Messenger. 

Mess.  My  Lord  High  Constable,  the  English  lie 
within  fifteen  hundred  paces  of  your  tents. 

Con.    Who  hath  measur'd  the  ground? 

Mess.    The  Lord  Grandpre. 

Con.  A  valiant  and  most  expert  gentleman.  Would 
it  were  day  !  Alas,  poor  Harry  of  England !  he  longs 
not  for  the  dawning  as  we  do.  132 

Orl.  What  a  wretched  and  peevish  fellow  is  this 
King  of  England,  to  mope  with  his  f at-brain'd  follow- 
ers so  far  out  of  his  knowledge ! 

Con.  If  the  English  had  any  apprehension,  they 
would  run  away. 

Orl.  That  they  lack ;  for  if  their  heads  had  any 
intellectual  armour,  they  could  never  wear  such  heavy 
head-pieces.  140 

Ham.  That  island  of  England  breeds  very  valiant 
creatures ;  their  mastiffs  are  of  unmatchable  courage. 

Orl.  Foolish  curs,  that  run  winking  into  the  mouth 
of  a  Russian  bear  and  have  their  heads  crush'd  like 
rotten  apples !  You  may  as  well  say,  that 's  a  valiant 
flea  that  dare  eat  his  breakfast  on  the  lip  of  a  lion. 

Con.  Just,  just ;  and  the  men  do  sympathize  with 
the  mastiffs  in  robustious  and  rough  coming  on,  leav- 
ing their  wits  with  their  wives :  and  then  give  them 
great  meals  of  beef  and  iron  and  steel,  they  will  eat 
like  wolves  and  fight  like  devils.  151 

Orl.  Ay,  but  these  English  are  shrewdly  out  of 
beef. 

Con.  Then  shall  we  find  to-morrow  they  have  only 
stomachs  to  eat  and  none  to'  fight.  Now  is  it  time  to 
arm :  come,  shall  we  about  it  ? 

143.  Shakespeare's  audiences  were  quite  familiar  with  bear- 
baiting. 


PROLOGUE]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  93 

OrL   It  is  now  two  o'clock :  but,  let  me  see,  by  ten 
We  shall  have  each  a  hundred  Englishmen.       [Exeunt. 


ACT  IV 

PROLOGUE 

Enter  Chorus. 

Chor.   Now  entertain  conjecture  of  a  tii 
When  creeping  murmur  and  the  poring  dark 
Fills  the  wide  vessel  of  the  universe. 
From  camp  to  camp  through  the  foul  womb  of  night 
The  hum  of  either  army  stilly  sounds, 
That  the  fix'd  sentinels  almost  receive 
The  secret  whispers  of  each  other's  watch : 
Fire  answers  fire,  and  through  their  paly  flames 
Each  battle  sees  the  other's  umber'd  face ; 
Steed  threatens  steed,  in  high  and  boastful  neighs    10 
Piercing  the  night's  dull  ear,  and  from  the  tents 
The  armourers,  accomplishing  the  knights, 
With  busy  hammers  closing  rivets  up, 
Give  dreadful  note  of  preparation  : 
The  country  cocks  do  crow,  the  clocks  do  toll, 
And  the  third  hour  of  drowsy  morning  name. 
Proud  of  their  numbers  and  secure  in  soul, 
The  confident  and  over-lusty  French 
Do  the  low-rated  English  play  at  dice  ; 
And  chide  the  cripple  tardy-gaited  night  20 

Who,  like  a  foul  and  ugly  witch,  doth  limp 
y  Prologue.   Here  again  we  have  description,  rhetoric,  poetry, 
to  make  up  for  the  lack  of  scenic  realism. 

9.  battle  —  an  army  drawn  up  for  battle  as  in  IV,  iii,  2,  69, 
and  often  in  earlier  use.  Cf.  embattled,  IV,  ii,  14. 

12.  accomplishing  =  giving  them  all  they  needed. 

19.  low-rated,  i.  e.  by  the  French. 


94  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ ACT  IV 

So  tediously  away.  'The  poor  condemned  English, 
Like  sacrifices,  by  their  watchful  fires 
Sit  patiently  and  inly  ruminate 
The  morning's  danger,  and  their  gesture  sad 
Investing  lank-lean  cheeks  and  war-worn  coats 
Presenteth  them  unto  the  gazing  moon 
So  many  horrid  ghosts.    O  now,  who  will  behold 
The  royal  captain  of  this  ruin'd  band 
Walking  from  watch  to  watch,  from  tent  to  tent,     30 
Let  him  cry,  Praise  and  glory  dh  his  head ! 
Tor  forth  he  goes  and  visits  all  his  host, 
Bids  them  good  morrow  with  a  modest  smile 
\And  calls  them  brothers,  friends  and  countrymen. 
Upon  his  royal  face  there  is  no  note 
How  dread  an  army  hath  enrounded  him ; 
Nor  doth  he  dedicate  one  jot  of  colour 
Unto  the  weary  and  all-watched  night, 
But  freshly  looks  and  over-bears  attaint 
With  cheerful  semblance  and  sweet  majesty ;  40 

That  every  wretch,  pining  and  pale  before, 
Beholding  him,  plucks  comfort  from  his  looks : 
A  largess  universal  like  the  sun 
His  liberal  eye  doth  give  to  every  one, 
Thawing  cold  fear,  that  mean  and  gentle  all, 
Behold,  as  may  unworthiness  define, 
A  little  touch  of  Harry  in  the  night. 
And  so  our  scene  must  to  the  battle  fly ; 
Where  —  O  for  pity !  —  we  shall  much  disgrace 
With  four  or  five  most  vile  and  ragged  foils,  50 

Right  ill-disposed  in  brawl  ridiculous, 
The  name  of  Agincourt.   Yet  sit  and  see, 
Minding  true  things  by  what  their  mockeries  be. 

[Exit. 
25.  gesture  =  bearing. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  95 

SCENE  I.   The  English  camp  at  Agincourt. 
Enter  KING  HENRY,  BEDFORD,  and  GLOUCESTER. 

K.  Hen.  Glou'ster,  't  is  true  that  we  are  in  great 

danger ; 

The  greater  therefore  should  our  courage  be. 
Good  morrow,  brother  Bedford.    God  Almighty  ! 
There  is  some  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil, 
Would  men  observingly  distil  it  out. 
For  our  bad  neighbour  makes  us  early  stirrers, 
Which  is  both  healtMul  and  good  husbandry : 
Besides,  they  are  our  outward  consciences, 
And  preachers  to  us  all,  admonishing  ^» 

That  we  should  ^ressjis  fairly  for  our  end.        ^v      10 
Thus  may  we  gather  honey  from  the  weed, 
And  make  a  moral  of  the  Devil  himself. 

Enter  ERPINGHAM. 

Good  morrow,  old  Sir  Thomas  Erpingham : 
A  good  soft  pillow  for  that  good  white  head 
Were  better  than  a  churlish  turf  of  France. 

Erp.    Not  so,  my  liege  :  this  lodging  likes  me  better, 
Since  I  may  say,  Now  lie  I  like  a  king. 

IK.  Hen.    'T  is  good  for  men  to  love  their  present 

pains 

Upon  example ;  so  the  spirit  is  eas'd  : 
And  when  the  mind  is  quicken'd,  out  of  doubt,         20 
The  organs,  though  defunct  and  dead  before, 
Break  up  their  drowsy  grave  and  newly  move, 
With  casted  slough  and  fresh  legerity. 

7.  good  husbandry  =  thrift.   W. 
10.  dress  us  —  order  ourselves. 
12.  moral,  so  Fluellen,  III,  vi,  33. 
19.  spirit:  one  syllable;  pronounced  spreet.    W. 
23.  legerity  =  lightness;   one  of  the  common  Gallicisms  in 
S.'sday.    W. 


96  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ACT  IV 

Lend  me  thy  cloak,  Sir  Thomas.    Brothers  both, 
Commend  me  to  the  princes  in  our  camp ; 
Do  my  good  morrow  to  them,  and  anon 
Desire  them  all  to  my  pavilion. 

Glou.    We  shall,  my  liege. 

Erp.    Shall  I  attend  your  grace  ? 

K.  Hen.  No,  my  good  knight ; 

Go  with  my  brothers  to  my  lords  of  England :  30 

I  and  my  bosom  must  debate  a  while, 
And  then  I  would  no  other  company. 

Erp.  The  Lord  in  heaven  bless  thee,  noble  Harry  ! 

[Exeunt  all  but  King. 

K.  Hen.    God-a-mercy,   old   heart!    thou   speak'st 
cheerfully. 

Enter  PISTOL. 

fist.    Qui  va  la  ? 

K.  Hen.    A  friend. 

fist.    Discuss  unto  me ;  art  thou  officer  ? 
Or  art  thou  base,  common  and  popular  ? 

K.  Hen.    I  am  a  gentleman  of  a  company. 

fist.    Trail' st  thou  the  puissant  pike?  40 

K.  Hen.    Even  so.    What  are  you  ? 

fist.    As  good  a  gentleman  as  the  Emperor. 

K.  Hen.    Then  you  are  a  better  than  the  King. 

fist.    The  King  's  a  bawcock,  and  a  heart  of  gold, 
A  lad  of  life,  an^'rmp  of  fame ; 
Of  parents  good,  of  fist  most  valiant. 
I  kiss  his  dirty  shoe,  and  from  heart-string 
I  love  the  lovely  bully.    What  is  thy  name  ? 

K.  Hen.    Harry  le  Roy. 

fist.    Le  Roy !  a  Cornish  name :  art  thou  of  Corn- 
ish crew  ?  50 

-ffl  Hen.   No,  I  am  a  Welshman. 

38.  popular  —  of  the  people. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  97 

Pist.    Know'st  thou  Fluellen  ? 

K.  Hen.    Yes. 

Pist.    Tell  him,  I  '11  knock  his  leek  about  his  pate 
Upon  Saint  Davy's  day. 

K.  Hen.  Do  not  you  wear  your  dagger  in  your  cap 
that  day,  lest  he  knock  that  about  yours. 

Pist.    Art  thou  his  friend  ? 

K.  Hen.    And  his  kinsman  too. 

Pist.    The  jigo  for  thee,  then  !  60 

K.  Hen.    I~thank  you :  God  be  with  you 

Pist.    My  name  is  Pistol  call'd.  [Exit. 

K.  Hen.    It  sorts  well  with  your  fierceness. 
Enter  FLUELLEN  and  GOWEJS. 

Gow.    Captain  Fluellen ! 

Flu.  So !  in  the  name  of  Jesu  Christ,  speak  lower. 
It  is  the  greatest  admiration  in  the  universal  world, 
when  the  true  and  aunchient  prerogatifes  and  laws  of 
the  wars  is  not  kept :  if  you  would  take  the  pains  but 
to  examine  the  wars  of  Pompey  the  Great,  you  shall 
find,  I  warrant  you,  that  there  is  no  tiddle  taddle  nor 
pibble  pabble  in  Pompey's  camp ;  I  warrant  you,  you 
shall  find  the  ceremonies  of  the  wars,  and  the  cares  of 
it,  and  the  forms  of  it,  and  the  sopriety  of  it,  and  the 
modesty  of  it,  to  be  otherwise.  74 

Gow.  Why,  the  enemy  is  loud  ;  you  hear  him  all 
night. 

Flu.  If  the  enemy  is  an  ass  and  a  fool  and  a 
prating  coxcomb,  is  it  meet,  think  you,  that  we  should 
also,  look  you,  be  an  ass  and  a  fool  and  a  prating 
coxcomb  ?  in  your  own  conscience,  now  ?  80 

Gow.    I  will  speak  lower. 

66.  admiration  =  wonder.  Fluellen,  rather  pedantic,  as 
usual,  regrets  that  Henry  does  not  keep  up  the  discipline  that 
he  imagines  in  Pompey's  camp. 


98  KING  HEN$Y  THE  FIFTH          [ACT  IV 

Flu.    I  pray  you  and  peseech  you  that  you  will. 

[Exeunt  Gower  and  Fluellen. 

IE.  Hen.    Though  it  appear  a  little  out  of  fashion, 
There  is  much  care  and  valour  in  this  Welshman. 

Enter  three  soldiers,  JOHN  BATES,  ALEXANDER  COURT,  and  MICHAEI, 
WILLIAMS. 

Court.  Brother  John  Bates,  is  not  that  the  morn- 
ing which  breaks  yonder? 

Bates.  I  think  it  be :  but  we  have  no  great  cause 
to  desire  the  approach  of  day.  88 

Will.  We  see  yonder  the  beginning  of  the  day, 
but  I  think  we  shall  never  see  the  end  of  it.  Who 
goes  there  ? 

K.  Hen.    A  friend. 

Will.    Under  what  captain  serve  you? 

K.  Hen.    Under  Sir  Thomas  Erpingham. 

Will.  A  good  old  commander  and  a  most  kind 
gentleman  :  I  pray  you,  what  thinks  he  of  our  estate  ? 

K.  Hen.    Even  as  men  wrack'd  upon  a  sand,  th 
look  to  be  wash'd  off  the  next  tide. 

Bates.    He  hath  not  told  his  thought  to  the  King  ? 

K.  Hen.  No ;  nor  it  is  not  meet  he  should.  For, 
though  I  speak  it  to  you,  I  think  the  King  is  but  a 
man,  as  I  am :  the  violet  smells  to  him  as  it  doth  to 
me  ;  the  element  shows  to  him  as  it  doth  to  me  ;  all  his 
senses  have  but  human  conditions  :  his  ceremonies  laid 
by,  in  his  nakedness  he  appears  but  a  man  ;  and  though 
his  affections  are  higher  mounted  than  ours,  yet,  when 
they  stoop,  they  stoop  with  the  like  wing.  Therefore 

83.  Fluellen  is  old-fashioned. 
96.  estate  =  condition. 

103.  element  =  sky:  really  but  one  of  what  were  held  the 
four  elements;  earth,  air,  fire,  water.     Cf.  Ill,  vii,  21. 
106.  affections  =  emotions. 


SCENE  HJ        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  99 

when  he  sees  reason  of  fears,  as  we  do,  his  fears,  cut 
of  doubt,  be  of  the  same  relish  as  ours  are  :  yet,  in  rea- 
son, no  man  should  possess  him  with  any  appearance  of 
fear,  lest  he,  by  showing  it,  should  dishearten  his  army. 

Bates.  He  may  show  what  outward  courage  he 
will ;  but  I  believe,  as  cold  a  night  as  't  is,  he  could 
wish  himself  in  Thames  up  to  the  neck ;  and  so  I 
would  he  were,  and  I  by  him,  at  all  adventures,  so  we 
were  quit  here. 

K.  Hen.  By  my  troth,  I  will  speak  my  conscience 
of  the  King :  I  think  he  would  not  wish  himself  any 
where  but  where  he  is.  119 

Bates.  Then  I  would  he  were  here  alone  ;  so  should 
he  be  sure  to  be  ransomed,  and  a  many  poor  men's 
lives  saved. 

K.  Hen.  I  dare  say  you  love  him  not  so  ill,  to  wish 
him  here  alone,  howsoever  you  speak  this  to  feel  other 
men's  minds :  methinks  I  could  not  die  any  where  so 
contented  as  in  the  King's  company ;  his  cause  being 
just  and  his  quarrel  honourable. 

Will.    That 's  more  than  we  knowA- 

Bates.  Ay,  or  more  than  we  should  seek  after ;  for 
we  know  enough,  if  we  know  we  are  the  King's  sub- 
jects :  if  his  cause  be  wrong,  our  obedience  to  the 
King  wipes  the  crime  of  it  out  of  us.  132 

Will.  But  if  the  cause  be  not  good,  the  King  him- 
self hath  a  heavy  reckoning  to  make,  when  all  those 
legs  and  arms  and  heads,  ehopp'd  off  in  a  battle,  shall 
join  together  at  the  latter  day  and  cry  all,  We  died  at 
such  a  place ;  some  swearing,  some  crying  for  a  sur- 
geon, some  upon  their  wives  left  poor  behind  them, 
some  upon  the  debts  they  owe,  some  upon  their  chil- 
dren rawly  left.  I  am  afeard  there  are  few  die  well 
140.  rawly  =  lately,  just. 


100  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

that  die  in  a  battle  ;  for  how  can  they  charitably  dis- 
pose of  any  thing,  when  blood  is  their  argument? 
Now,  if  these  men  do  not  die  well,  it  will  be  a  black 
matter  for  the  King  that  led  them  to  it ;  whom  to 
disobey  were  against  all  proportion  of  subjection.  145 
K.  Hen.  So,  if  a  son  that  is  by  his  father  sent 
about  merchandise  do  sinfully  miscarry  upon  the  sea, 
the  imputation  of  his  wickedness,  by  your  rule,  should 
be  imposed  upon  his  father  that  sent  him :  or  if  a  ser- 
vant, under  his  master's  command  transporting  a  sum 
of  money,  be  assailed  by  robbers  and  die  in  many  ir- 
reconcil'd  iniquities,  you  may  call  the  business  of  the 
master  the  author  of  the  servant's  damnation :  but 
this  is  not  so :  the  King  is  not  bound  to  answer  the 
particular  endings  of  his  soldiers,  the  father  of  his 
i  son,  nor  the  master  of  his  servant ;  for  they  purpose 
(not  their  death,  when  they  purpose  their  services. 
.  Besides,  there  is  no  king,  be  his  cause  never  so  spot- 
less, if  it  come  to  the  arbitrement  of  swords,  can  try 
it  out  with  all  unspotted  soldiers :  some  perad venture 
have  on  them  the  guilt  of  premeditated  and  contrived 
murder :  some,  of  beguiling  virgins  with  the  broken 
seals  of  perjury ;  some,  making  the  wars  their  bul- 
wark, that  have  before  gored  the  gentle  bosom  of  peace 
with  pillage  and  robbery.  Now,  if  these  men  have  de- 
feated the  law  and  outrun  native  punishment,  though 
they  can  outstrip  men,  they  have  no  wings  to  fly  from 
God  :  war  is  his  beadle,  war  is  his  vengeance  ;  so  that 
here  men  are  punish'd  for  bef ore-breach  of  the  King's 
laws  in  now  the  King's  quarrel :  where  they  feared 

146.    Henry  eludes  the  point  which  he  perfectly  understands, 

and  has  determined  in  his  own  mind  already,  I,  ii,  25-32,  96. 

'  He  prefers  to  elaborate  an  idea  more  likely  to  give  heart  to  his 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  101 

the  death,  they  have  borne  life  away ;  and  where  they 
would  be  safe,  they  perish:  then  if  they  die  unpro- 
vided, no  more  is  the  King  guilty  of  their  damnation 
than  he  was  before  guilty  of  those  impieties  for  the 
which  they  are  now  visited.  Ijlverjjmbject's  duty  is  the 
King's;  but  every  subject's  soul- is  his  own.  There- 
fore should  every  soldier  in  the  wars  do  as  every  sick 
man  in  his  bed,  wash  every  mote  out  of  his  conscience  : 
and  dying  so,  death  is  to  him  advantage  ;  or  not  dying, 
the  time  was  blessedly  lost  wherein  such  preparation 
was  gained :  and  in  him  that  escapes,  it  were  not  sin 
to  think  that,  making  God  so  free  an  offer,  He  let  him 
outlive  that  day  to  see  His  greatness  and  to  teach 
others  how  they  should  prepare.  184 

Will.  'T  is  certain,  every  man  that  dies  ill,  the 
ill  upon  his  own  head,  the  King  is  not  to  answer  it. 

Bates.  I  do  not  desire  he  should  answer  for  me ; 
and  yet  I  determine  to  fight  lustily  for  him. 

K.  Hen.  I  myself  heard  the  King  say  he  would 
not  be  ransom'd.  190 

"Will.  Ay,  he  said  so,  to  make  us  fight  cheerfully : 
but  when  our  throats  are  cut,  he  may  be  ransom'd,  and 
we  ne'er  the  wiser. 

K.  Hen.  If  I  live  to  see  it,  I  will  never  trust  his 
word  after. 

Will.  You  pay  him  then.  That 's  a  perilous  shot 
out  of  an  elder-gun,  that  a  poor  and  private  displeasure 
can  do  against  a  monarch !  you  may  as  well  go  about 
to  turn  the  sun  to  ice  with  fanning  in  his  face  with  a 
peacock's  feather.  You  '11  never  trust  his  word  after  ! 
come,  't  is  a  foolish  saying.  201 

K.  Hen.   Your  reproof  is  something  too  round :  I 

197.  elder-gun :  a  gun  made  by  a  child  out  of  an  elderberry 
stem,  by  pushing  the  pith  out. 


102  KING  HENRY  THE.  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

should  be  angry  with  you,  if  the  time  were  conven- 
ient. 

Will.    Let  it  be  a  quarrel  between  us,  if  you  live. 

K.  Hen.    I  embrace  it. 

Will.    How  shall  I  know  thee  again  ? 

K.  Hen.  Give  me  any  gage  of  thine,  and  I  will 
wear  it  in  my  bonnet :  then,  if  ever  thou  dar'st  ac- 
knowledge it,  I  will  make  it  my  quarrel.  210 

Will.    Here  's  my  glove  :  give  me  another  of  thine. 

K.  Hen.    There. 

Will.  This  will  I  also  wear  in  my  cap :  if  ever  thou 
come  to  me  and  say,  after  to-morrow,  This  is  my  glove, 
by  this  hand,  I  will  take  thee  a  box  on  the  ear. 

K.  Hen.   If  ever  I  live  to  see  it,  I  will  challenge  it. 

Will.    Thou  dar'st  as  well  be  hang'd. 

K.  Hen.  Well,  I  will  do  it,  though  I  take  thee  in 
the  King's  company. 

Will.    Keep  thy  word :  fare  thee  well.  220 

Bates.  Be  friends,  you  English  fools,  be  friends : 
we  have  French  quarrels  enow,  if  you  could  tell  how 
to  reckon. 

K.  Hen.     Indeed,    the    French    may    lay    twenty 
French  crowns  to  one,  they  will  beat  us  ;  for  they  bear 
them  on  their  shoulders :  but  it  is  no  English  treason 
to  cut  French  crowns,  and  to-morrow  the  King  him- 
self will  be  a  clipper.  [Exeunt  Soldiers. 
?'  Upon  the  King !   let  us  our  lives,  our  souls, 
Our  debts,  our  careful  wives,  230 
Our  children  and  our  sins  lay  on  the  King ! 
We  must  bear  all.    O  hard  condition, 

228.  clipper:  money  used  to  be  made  without  the  milling  on 
the  edge,  so  that  it  was  possible  to  clip  a  little  off  a  piece. 

230.  careful  =  full  of  care. 

232.  This  speech,  though  perfectly  appropriate,  is  really  an 
elaborate  piece  of  rhetoric.  See  Introduction,  p.  16. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  103 

Twin-born  with  greatness,  subject  to  the  breath 

Of  every  fool,  whose  sense  no  more  can  feel 

But  his  own  wringing !    What  infinite  heart's-ease 

Must  kings  neglect,  that  private  men  enjoy  ! 

And  what  have  kings,  that  privates  have  not  too, 

Save  ceremony,  save  general  ceremony  ? 

And  what  art  thou,  thou  idol  ceremony  ? 

What  kind  of  god  art  thou,  that  suffer'st  more        240 

Of  mortal  griefs  than  do  thy  worshippers  ? 

What  are  thy  rents  ?  what  are  thy  comings  in  ? 

0  ceremony,  show  me  but  thy  worth ! 
What  is  thy  soul  of  adoration  ? 

Art  thou  aught  else  but  place,  degree  and  form, 

Creating  awe  and  fear  in  other  men  ?7 

Wherein  thou  art  less  happy  being  fear'd 

Than  they  in  fearing. 

What  drink'st  thou  oft,  instead  of  homage  sweet, 

But  poison 'd  flattery  ?  O,  be  sick,  great  greatness,  250 

And  bid  thy  ceremony  give  thee  cure ! 

Think' st  thou  the  fiery  fever  will  go  out 

With  titles  blown  from  adulation  ? 

Will  it  give  place  to  flexure  and  low  bending  ? 

Canst   thou,  when    thou  command'st   the    beggar's 

knee, 

Command  the  health  of  it  ?   No,  thou  proud  dream, 
That  play'st  so  subtly  with  a  king's  repose  ; 

1  am  a  king  that  find  thee,  and  I  know 

'T  is  not  the  balm,  the  sceptre  and  the  ball, 

The  sword,  the  mace,  the  crown  imperial,  260 

The  intertissued  robe  of  gold  and  pearl, 

237.  privates  =  private  men. 

244.  thy  soul  of  adoration  =  the  essence  of  the  adoration 
of  thee.    W. 

259.  balm,  used  at  coronation. 


104  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ACT  IV 

The  farced  title  running  'fore  the  King, 

The  throne  he  sits  on,  nor  the  tide  of  pomp 

That  beats  upon  the  high  shore  of  this  world, 

No,  not  all  these,  thrice-gorgeous  ceremony, 

Not  all  these,  laid  in  bed  majestical, 

Can  sleep  so  soundly  as  the  wretched  slave, 

Who  with  a  body  fill'd  and  vacant  mind 

Gets  him  to  rest,  cramm'd  with  distressful  bread, 

Never  sees  horrid  night,  the  child  of  hell,  270 

But,  like  a  lackey,  from  the  rise  to  set 

Sweats  in  the  eye  of  Phoebus,  and  all  night 

Sleeps  in  Elysium  ;  next  day  after  dawn, 

Doth  rise  and  help  Hyperion  to  his  horse, 

And  follows  so  the  ever-running  year, 

With  profitable  labour,  to  his  grave  : 

And,  but  for  ceremony,  such  a  wretch, 

Winding  up  days  with  toil  and  nights  with  sleep, 

•Had  the  fore-hand  and  vantage  of  a  king. 

The  slave,  a  member  of  the  country's  peace,  280 

Enjoys  it ;  but  in  gross  brain  little  wots 

Wrhat  watch  the  King  keeps  to  maintain  the  peace, 

Whose  hours  the  peasant  best  advantages. 

Enter  ERPINGHAM. 

Erp.    My  lord,  your  nobles,  jealous  of  your  absence, 
Seek  through  your  camp  to  find  you. 

K.  Hen.  Good  old  knight, 

Collect  them  all  together  at  my  tent : 
I  '11  be  before  thee. 

Erp.  I  shall  do 't,  my  lord.  [Exit. 

HL.  Hen.     O    God   of   battles !  steel   my  soldiers' 
hearts  ; 

262.    farced  =  stuffed  and  highly  seasoned,  a  phrase  from 
the  kitchen.    W. 

283.  advantages  =  gets  the  good  of. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  105 

Possess  them  not  with  fear  ;  take  from  them  now 

The  sense  of  reckoning,  if  the  opposed  numbers      290 

Pluck  their  hearts  from  them.    Not  to-day,  O  Lord, 

O,  not  to-day,  think  not  upon-  the  fault 

My  father  made  in  compassing  the  crown  ! 

I  Richard's  body  have  interred  new ; 

And  on  it  have  bestow'd  more  contrite  tears 

Than  from  it  issued  forced  drops  of  blood : 

Five  hundred  poor  I  have  in  yearly  pay, 

Who  twice  a-day  their  wither'd  hands  hold  up 

Toward  heaven,  to  pardon  blood  ;  and  I  have  built 

Two  chantries,  where  the  sad  and  solemn  priests     300 

Sing  still  for  Richard's  soul.    More  will  I  do ; 

Though  all  that  I  can  do  is  nothing  worth, 

Since  that  my  penitence  comes  after  all, 

Imploring  pardon. 

Enter  GLOUCESTER. 

Glou.   My  liege ! 

J5T.  Hen.  My  brother  Glou'ster's  voice  ?  Ay ; 

I  know  thy  errand,  I  will  go  with  thee : 
The  day,  my  friends  and  all  things  stay  for  me. 

[Exeunt. 
SCENE  II.    The  French  camp. 

Enter  the  DAUPHIN,  ORLEANS,  RAMBURES,  and  others. 
OrL    The  sun  doth  gild  our  armour  ;  up,  my  lords  ! 
Dau.   Montez   a  cheval !   My  horse !    varlet !   la- 

quais!  ha! 
OrL    O  brave  spirit ! 

293.  See  Richard  //,  Act  V. 

300.  sad  =  serious. 

2.  Montez  a  cheval  =  mount,  as  we  say  in  English,  simply. 
These  French  phrases  are  of  no  importance,  and  were  put  in 
here  merely  to  give  a  French  flavor  to  the  scene,  and  make  the 
commoner  sort  of  spectators  gape.  W. 


106  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ACT  IV 

Dau.  Via  !  les  eaux  et  la  terre. 
Orl.  Rien  puis  ?  Vair  et  lefeu. 
Dau.  Ciel,  cousin  Orleans. 

Enter  CONSTABLE. 
Now,  my  Lord  Constable ! 

Con.    Hark,  how  our   steeds   for   present   service 

neigh ! 

Dau.  Mount  them,  and  make  incision  in  their  hides, 
That  their  hot  blood  may  spin  in  English  eyes,  10 
And  dout  them  with  superfluous  courage,  ha ! 

Ham.    What,  will  you  have  them  weep  our  horses' 

blood  ? 
How  shall  we,  then,  behold  their  natural  tears  ? 

Enter  Messenger. 

Mess.    The   English    are   embattled,   you    French 

peers. 
Con.    To  horse,  you  gallant  princes !    straight   to 

horse  ! 

Do  but  behold  yon  poor  and  starved  band, 
And  your  fair  show  shall  suck  away  their  souls, 
Leaving  them  but  the  shales  and  husks  of  men. 
There  is  not  work  enough  for  all  our  hands  ; 
Scarce  blood  enough  in  all  their  sickly  veins  20 

To  give  each  naked  curtle-axe  a  stain, 
That  our  French  gallants  shall  to-day  draw  out, 
And  sheathe  for  lack  of  sport:    let  us  but  blow  on 

them, 

The  vapour  of  our  valour  will  o'erturn  them. 
'T  is  positive  'gainst  all  exceptions,  lords, 
That  our  superfluous  lackeys  and  our  peasants, 
Who  in  unnecessary  action  swarm 
About  our  squares  of  battle,  were  enow 
To  purge  this  field  of  such  a  hilding  foe, 
11.  dout  =  put,  out:  do  out,  as  don  =•  do  on,  doff  =  do  off.    W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  107 

Though  we  upon  this  mountain's  basis  by  30 

Took  stand  for  idle  speculation  : 

But  that  our  honours  must  not.    What 's  to  say  ? 

A  very  little  little  let  us  do, 

And  all  is  done.    Then  let  the  trumpets  sound 

The  tucket  sonance  and  the  note  to  mount ; 

For  our  approach  shall  so  much  dare  the  field 

That  England  shall  couch  down  in  fear  and  yield. 

Enter  GBANDPBE. 
Grand.    Why  do  you   stay  so  long,  my  lords  of 

France  ? 

Yon  island  carrions,  desperate  of  their  bones, 
Ill-favouredly  become  the  morning  field  :  40 

Their  ragged  curtains  poorly  are  let  loose, 
And  our  air  shakes  them  passing  scornfully : 
Big  Mars  seems  bankrupt  in  their  beggar 'd  host 
And  faintly  through  a  rusty  beaver  peeps  : 
The  horsemen  sit  like  fixed  candlesticks, 
With    torch-staves    in    their   hand ;    and   their   poor 

jades 

Lob  down  their  heads,  dropping  the  hides  and  hips, 
The  gum  down-roping  from  their  pale-dead  eyes, 
And  in  their  pale  dull  mouths  the  gimmal  bit 
Lies  foul  with  chew'd  grass,  still  and  motionless ;      50 
And  their  executors,  the  knavish  crows, 
Fly  o'er  them,  all  impatient  for  their  hour. 

31.  speculation  =  looking  on. 

35.  tucket  sonance  =  a  large  Italianish  phrase  for  the  moni- 
tory flourish  upon  a  trumpet.  W. 

39.  desperate  =  hopeless. 

44.  beaver  =  the  upper  part  of  the  helmet. 

49.  gimmal  bit  =  a  bit  made  with  two  rings,  one  of  which 
played  within  the  other  ;  a  sort  of  curb  bit.  W. 

51.  executors  =  those  who  will  look  after  their  business 
when  they  are  dead. 


108  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ ACT  IV 

Description  cannot  suit  itself  in  words 
To  demonstrate  the  life  of  such  a  battle 
In  life  so  lifeless  as  it  shows  itself. 

Con.   They  have  said  their  prayers,  and  they  stay 
for  death. 

Dau.    Shall  we  go  send  them  dinners  and  fresh 

suits 

And  give  their  fasting  horses  provender, 
And  after  fight  with  them? 

Con.    I  stay  but  for  my  guard  :  on  to  the  field !    60 
I  will  the  banner  from  a  trumpet  take, 
And  use  it  for  my  haste.    Come,  come,  away  ! 
The  sun  is  high,  and  we  outwear  the  day.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  III.    The  English  camp. 

Enter  GLOUCESTER,  BEDFORD,  EXETER,  ERPINGHAM,  iviih  all  his 
host:   SALISBURY  and  WESTMORELAND. 

Glou.    Where  is  the  King? 

Bed.    The  King  himself  is  rode  to  view  their  battle. 

West.    Of  fighting  men  they  have  full  three  score 
thousand. 

Exe.    There's  five  to  one;    besides,  they  all  are 
fresh. 

Sal.    God's  arm  strike  with  us !  't  is  a  fearful  odds. 
God  b'  wi'  you,  princes  all ;  I  '11  to  my  charge : 
If  we  no  more  meet  till  we  meet  in  heaven, 
Then,  joyfully,  my  noble  Lord  of  Bedford, 
My  dear  Lord  Gloucester,  and  my  good  Lord  Exeter, 
And  my  kind  kinsman,  warriors  all,  adieu !  10 

Bed.    Farewell,  good  Salisbury ;  and  good  luck  go 
with  thee ! 

Exe.    Farewell,  kind  lord ;  fight  valiantly  to-day : 

61.  I  ...  take  :    he  will  not  wait    for   his  own    standard 
bearers :  trumpet  —  a  trumpeter. 


SCENE  III]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  109 

And  yet  I  do  thee  wrong  to  mind  thee  of  it, 
For  thou  art  fram'd  of  the  firm  truth  of  valour. 

[Exit  Salisbury. 

Bed.    He  is  as  full  of  valour  as  of  kindness ; 
Princely  in  both. 

Enter  the  KING. 

West.  O  that  we  now  had  here 

But  one  ten  thousand  of  those  men  in  England 
That  do  no  work  to-day ! 

K.  Hen.  What 's  he  that  wishes  so 

My  cousin  Westmoreland  ?   No,  my  fair  cousin  : 
If  we  are  mark'd  to  die,  we  are  enow  20 

To  do  our  country  loss  ;  and  if  to  live, 
The  fewer  men,  the  greater  share  of  honour. 
God's  will !    I  pray  thee,  wish  not  one  man  more. 
By  Jove,  I  am  not  covetous  for  gold, 
Nor  care  I  who  doth  feed  upon  my  cost ; 
It  yearns  me  not  if  men  my  garments  wear ; 
Such  outward  things  dwell  not  in  my  desires : 
But  if  it  be  a  sin  to  covet  honour, 
I  am  the  most  offending  soul  alive. 
No,  faith,  my  coz,  wish  not  a  man  from  England :    30 
God's  peace !    I  would  not  lose  so  great  an  honour 
As  one  man  more,  methinks,  would  share  from  me 
For  the  best  hope  I  have.   O,  do  not  wish  one  more ! 
Rather  proclaim  it,  Westmoreland,  through  my  host, 
That  he  which  hath  no  stomach  to  this  fight, 
Let  him  depart ;  his  passport  shall  be  made 
And  crowns  for  convoy  put  into  his  purse : 
We  would  not  die  in  that  man's  company 
That  fears  his  fellowship  to  die  with  us. 
This  day  is  call'd  the  feast  of  Crispian  :  40 

He  that  outlives  this  day,  and  comes  safe  home, 
26.  yearns  —  vexes. 


110  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ ACT  IV 

Will  stand  a  tip-toe  when  this  day  is  nam'd, 

And  rouse  him  at  the  name  of  Crispian. 

He  that  shall  live  this  day,  and  see  old  age, 

Will  yearly  on  the  vigil  feast  his  neighbours, 

And  say  To-morrow  isl$aint  Crispian  : 

Then  will  he  strip  his  sleeve  and  show  his  scars, 

And  say  These  wounds  I  had  on  Crispin's  day. 

Old  men  forget ;  yet  all  shall  be  forgot, 

But  he  '11  remember  with  advantages  50 

What  feats  he  did  that  day  :  then  shall  our  names, 

Familiar  in  his  mouth  as  household  words, 

Harry  the  King,  Bedford  and  Exeter, 

Warwick  and  Talbot,  Salisbury  and  Gloucester, 

Be  in  their  flowing  cups  freshly  remember'd. 

This  story  shall  the  good  man  teach  his  son ; 

And  Crispin  Crispian  shall  ne'er  go  by, 

From  this  day  to  the  ending  of  the  world, 

But  we  in  it  shall  be  remembered ; 

We  few,  we  happy  few,  we  band  of  brothers  ;  60 

For  he  to-day  that  sheds  his  blood  with  me 

Shall  be  my  brother  ;  be  he  ne'er  so  vile,          \J 

This  day  shall  gentle  his  condition  :  S\± 

And  gentlemen  in  England  now  a-bed 

Shall  think  themselves  accurs'd  they  were  not  here, 

And  hold  their  manhoods  cheap  whiles  any -speaks 

That  fought  with  us  upon  Saint  Crispin's  day. 

Re-enter  SALISBURY. 
Sal.    My  sovereign  lord,  bestow  yourself  with  speed  : 

45.  vigil :  the  night  before  a  saint's  day. 

57.  Crispin  and  Crispianus  were  two  Christian  shoemakers 
and  martyrs  about  the  end  of  the  third  century.  W. 

63.  gentle  his  condition  =:  give  him  the  rank  of  a  gentle- 
man. W. 

68.  bestow  —  put  yourself  in  order. 


SCENE  III]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  111 

The  French  are  bravely  in  their  battles  set, 
And  will  with  all  expedience  charge  on  us.  70 

K.  Hen.    All  things  are  ready,  if  our  minds  be  so. 
West.    Perish  the  man  whose  mind    is   backward 

now  ! 

K.  Hen.    Thou  dost  not  wish  more  help  from  Eng- 
land, coz  ? 

West.    God's  will !  my  liege,  would  you  and  I  alone, 
Without  more  help,  could  fight  this  royal  battle ! 
K.  Hen.    Why,  now  thou  hast  unwish'd  five  thou- 
sand men  ; 

Which  likes  me  better  than  to  wish  us  one. 
You  know  your  places  :  God  be  with  you  all ! 

Tucket.   Enter  MONTJOY. 

Mont.    Once  more  I  come  to  know  of  thee,  King 

Harry, 

If  for  thy  ransom  thou  wilt  now  compound,  80 

Before  thy  most  assured  overthrow  : 
For  certainly  thou  art  so  near  the  gulf, 
Thou  needs  must  be  englutted.    Besides,  in  mercy, 
The  Constable  desires  thee  thou  wilt  mind 
Thy  followers  of  repentance  ;  that  their  souls 
May  make  a  peaceful  and  a  sweet  retire 
From  off  these  fields,  where,  wretches,  their  poor  bodies 
Must  lie  and  fester. 

K.  Hen.  Who  hath  sent  thee  now? 

Mont.    The  Constable  of  France. 

K.  Hen.    I  pray  thee,  bear  my  former  answer  back  : 
Bid  them  achieve  me  and  then  sell  my  bones.  91 

Good  God  !  why  should  they  mock  poor  fellows  thus  ? 
The  man  that  once  did  sell  the  lion's  skin 
While  the  beast  liv'd,  was  killed  with  hunting  him. 

82.  gulf.    Cf.  II,  iv,  10. 
84.  mind  =  remind. 


112  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

A  many  of  our  bodies  shall  no  doubt 
Find  native  graves ;  upon  the  which,  I  trust, 
Shall  witness  live  in  brass  of  this  day's  work  : 
And  those  that  leave  their  valiant  bones  in  France, 
Dying  like  men,  though  buried  in  your  dunghills, 
They   shall  be  fam'd;  for  there  the  sun  shall  greet 
them,  100 

And  draw  their  honours  reeking  up  to  heaven ; 
Leaving  their  earthly  parts  to  choke  your  clime, 
The  smell  whereof  shall  breed  a  plague  in  France. 
Mark  then  abounding  valour  in  our  English, 
That  being  dead,  like  to  the  bullet's  grazing, 
Break  out  into  a  second  course  of  mischief, 
Killing  in  relapse  of  mortality. 
Let  me  speak  proudly :  tell  the  Constable 
We  are  but  warriors  for  the  working-day ; 
Our  gayness  and  our  gilt  are  all  besmirch'd  110 

With  rainy  marching  in  the  painful  field ; 
There  's  not  a  piece  of  feather  in  our  host  — 
Good  argument,  I  hope,  we  will  not  fly  — 
And  time  hath  worn  us  into  slovenry  : 
But,  by  the  mass,  our  hearts  are  in  the  trim  ; 
And  my  poor  soldiers  tell  me,  yet  ere  night 
They  '11  be  in  fresher  robes,  or  they  will  pluck 
The  gay  new  coats  o'er  the  French  soldiers'  heads 
And  turn  them  out  of  service.    If  they  do  this,  — 
As,  if  God  please,  they  shall,  —  my  ransom  then     120 
Will  soon  be  levied.    Herald,  save  thou  thy  labour; 
Come  thou  no  more  for  ransom,  gentle  herald : 

104.  abounding:  possibly  "abounding;"  in  either  case  S. 
doubtless  had  both  words  in  mind,  when  his  propensity  to  fanci- 
ful conceit  in  language  led  him  to  deform  the  beauty  and  smirch 
the  splendor  of  this  noble  scene  by  this  and  the  preceding  passage 
of  Henry's  speech.  W. 


SCENE  IV]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  113 

They  shall  have  none,  I  swear,  but  these  my  joints  ; 
Which  if  they  have  as  I  will  leave  'em  them, 
ShaU  yield  them  little,  tell  the  Constable. 

Mont.  I  shall,  King  Harry.  And  so  fare  thee  well : 
Thou  never  shalt  hear  herald  any  more.  [Exit. 

K.  Hen.    I  fear  thou  'It  once  more  come  again  for 
ransom. 

Enter  YORK. 

York.    My  lord,  most  humbly  on  my  knee  I  beg 
The  leading  of  the  vaward.  130 

K.  Hen.    Take  it,  brave  York.  Now,  soldiers,  march 

away: 
And  how  thou  pleasest,  God,  dispose  the  day !   [Exeunt. 

SCENE  IV.    The  field  of  battle. 
Alarum.   Excursions.     Enter  PISTOL,  French  Soldier,  and  Boy. 

Pist.    Yield,  cur  ! 

Fr.  Sol.  Je  pense  que  vous  etes  gentilhomme  de 
bonne  qualite. 

Pist.  Qualtitie  calmie  custure  me !  Art  thou  a 
gentleman  ?  what  is  thy  name  ?  discuss. 

Fr.  Sol.    0  Seigneur  Dieu  ! 

Pist.    O,  Signieur  Dew  should  be  a  gentleman : 
Perpend  my  words,  O  Signieur  Dew,  and  mark ; 
O  Signieur  Dew,  thou  diest  on  point  of  fox, 
Except,  O  signieur,  thou  do  give  to  me  10 

Egregious  ransom. 

Scene  IV.  As  it  is  impossible  actually  to  present  the  battle 
(IV,  Prol.  48  ff.)  Shakespeare  does  not  try  to  do  so.  He  does  not 
even  present  to  us  single  combats:  this  exploit  of  the  coward 
Pistol  is  enough  to  show  what  the  rest  of  the  army  did. 

2.  Je  pense,  etc.  —  I  suppose  that  you  are  a  gentleman  of 
good  quality.  W. 

4.  Pistol's  French  is  mere  meaningless  gabble.   W. 

9.  fox  =  sword.    W. 


114  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  IV 

Fr.  Sol.  O,  prenez  misericorde !  ayez  pitie  de 
moil 

Pist.    Moy  shall  not  serve ;  I  will  have  forty  moys  ; 
Or  I  will  fetch  thy  rim  out  at  thy  throat 
In  drops  of  crimson  blood. 

Fr.  Sol.  Est-il  impossible  d'echapper  la  force  de 
ton  bras  ? 

Pist.    Brass,  cur  ! 

Thou  damned  and  luxurious  mountain  goat,  20 

Offer'st  me  brass  ? 

Fr.  Sol.    O  pardonnez  moi  ! 

Pist.    Say'st  thou  me  so  ?  is  that  a  ton  of  moys  ? 
Come  hither,  boy :  ask  me  this  slave  in  French 
What  is  his  name. 

Boy.    Ecoutez :  comment  etes-vous  appele  ? 

Fr.  Sol.   Monsieur  le  Fer. 

Boy.    He  says  his  name  is  Master  Fer. 

Pist.  Master  Fer !  I  '11  fer  him,  and  firk  him,  and 
ferret  him  :  discuss  the  same  in  French  unto  him.  30 

Boy.  I  do  not  know  the  French  for  fer,  and  ferret, 
and  firk. 

Pist.    Bid  him  prepare ;   for  I  will  cut  his  throat. 

Fr.  Sol.    Que  dit-il,  monsieur  ? 

Boy.  11  me  commande  devous  dire  que  vous  faites 
vous  pret ;  car  ce  soldat  id  est  dispose  tout  a  cette 
heure  de  couper  votre  gorge. 

12.  O,  prenez,  etc.  =  O  have  mercy,  take  pity  upon  me.    W. 
15.  rim  =  midriff.    W. 

17.  Est-il  impossible,  etc.  =  Is  it  impossible  to  escape  the 
power  of  thy  arm  ?  W. 

26.  Ecoutez,  etc.  =  Hear  !  what  is  your  name  ?   W. 

34.  Que  dit-il  ?  =  What  does  he  say  ?     W. 

35.  II  me  command,  etc.  =  He  bids  me  tell  you  to  make 
yourself  ready  ;  for  this  soldier  is  disposed  to  cut  your  throat 
at  once.    W. 


SCENE  IV]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  115 

Pist.    Owy,  cuppele  gorge,  permafoy, 
Peasant,  unless  thou  give  me  crowns,  brave  crowns ; 
Or  mangled  shalt  thou  be  by  this  my  sword.  40 

Fr.  Sol.  O,  je  vous  supplie,  pour  V amour  de 
Dieu,  me  pardonner  !  Je  suis  gentilhomme  de  bonne 
maison :  gardez  ma  vie,  et  je  vous  donnerai  deux 
cents  ecus. 

Pist.    What  are  his  words  ? 

Boy.  He  prays  you  to  save  his  life :  he  is  a  gentle- 
man of  a  good  house ;  and  for  his  ransom  he  will  give 
you  two  hundred  crowns. 

Pist.    Tell  him  my  fury  shall  abate,  and  I 
The  crowns  will  take.  50 

Fr.  Sol.    Petit  monsieur,  que  dit-il  ? 

Boy.  Encore  qu'il  est  contre  son  jurement  de  par- 
donner aucun  prisonnier,  neanmoins,  pour  les  ecus 
que  vous  Vavez  promis,  il  est  content  de  vous  donner 
la  liberte,  le  franchisement. 

Fr.  Sol.  Sur  mes  genouxje  vous  donne  mille  re- 
mercimens  ;  et  je,  niestime  heureux  queje  suis  tombe 
entre  les  mains  d'un  chevalier,  je  pense,  I e  plus  brave, 
vaillant,  et  tres  distingue  seigneur  d*  Angleterre. 

Pist.    Expound  unto  me,  boy.  60 

Boy.  He  gives  you,  upon  his  knees,  a  thousand 
thanks ;  and  he  esteems  himself  happy  that  he  hath 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  one,  as  he  thinks,  the  most 

38.  Owy  .  .  .  permafoy.  Pistol's  French  rarely  has  much 
meaning:  this,  however,  means,  "  Oh,  yes:  cut  his  throat,  by  my 
faith."  Pistol  knew  so  much  French,  at  least,  before  coming  to 
France,  II,  i,  72. 

41.  O,  je  vous,  etc.  =  The  boy  translates  here,  and  also  below, 
Sur  mes  genoux.  W. 

52.  Encore  qu'il  est,  etc.  =  Although  it  is  contrary  to  his 
oath  to  spare  any  prisoner,  nevertheless,  for  the  crowns  you  have 
promised,  he  is  willing  to  set  you  at  liberty.  W. 


116  KING  HEN&Y  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

brave,  valorous,  and  thrice-worthy  signieur  of  Eng- 
land. 65 

Pist.  As  I  suck  blood,  I  will  some  mercy  show. 
Follow  me ! 

Boy.  Suivez-vous  le  grand  capitaine.  [Exeunt 
Pistol,  and  French  Soldier. ]  I  did  never  know  so  full 
a  voice  issue  from  so  empty  a  heart :  but  the  saying 
is  true,  "  The  empty  vessel  makes  the  greatest  sound." 
Bardolph  and  Nyrn  had  ten  times  more  valour  than 
this  roaring  devil  i'  th'  old  play,  that  every  one  may 
pare  his  nails  with  a  wooden  dagger  ;  and  they  are 
both  hang'd ;  and  so  would  this  be,  if  he  durst  steal 
any  thing  adventurously.  I  must  stay  with  the  lackeys, 
with  the  luggage  of  our  camp :  the  French  might  have 
a  good  prey  of  us,  if  he  knew  of  it ;  for  there  is  none 
to  guard  it  but  boys.  [Exit. 

SCENE  V.   Another  part  of  the  field. 

Enter  CONSTABLE,  ORLEANS,  BOURBON,  DAUPHIN,  and  RAMBURES. 
Con.    O  diable  ! 

Orl.    O  seigneur  !  le  jour  est  perdu,  tout  est  perdu  1 
Dau.    Mort^de  ma  me  !  all  is  confounded,  all ! 

Reproach  and  everlasting  shame 

Sits  mocking  in  our  plumes.     0  mechante  fortune  ! 

Do  not  run  away.  [ A  short  alarum. 

Con.  Why,  all  our  ranks  are  broke. 

68.  Suivez-vous,  etc.  =  Follow  the  great  captain.    W. 

73.  devil:  the  Devil  in  the  Miracle  Plays  was  a  blustering, 
humorous  character.  In  the  next  clause  the  construction  is 
mixed  by  the  use  of  his  nails  instead  of  the  grammatical  the 
nails  of. 

2.  O  seigneur,  etc.  =  O  Lord,  the  day  is  lost,  all  is  lost !    W. 

3.  Mort  de  ma  vie  =  Death  of  my  life;  a  common  French 
imprecation.    W. 

5.  me*chante  fortune  =  naughty,  that  is,  wicked  fortune.  W. 


SCENE  VI]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  117 

Dau.    O  perdurable  shame  !  let 's  stab  ourselves. 
Be  these  the  wretches  that  we  play'd  at  dice  for  ? 

Orl.    Is  this  the  king  we  sent  to  for  his  ransom  ? 

Bour.     Shame    and   eternal  shame,  nothing   but 
shame !  10 

Let 's  die  in  honour  :  once  more  back  again  ; 
And  he  that  will  not  follow  Bourbon  now, 
Let  him  go  hence,  and  with  his  cap  in  hand, 
Like  a  base  pander,  hold  the  chamber-door. 

Con.    Disorder,  that  hath  spoil'd  us,  friend  us  now  ! 
Let  us  on  heaps  go  offer  up  our  lives. 

Orl.    We  are  enow  yet  living  in  the  field 
To  smother  up  the  English  in  our  throngs, 
If  any  order  might  be  thought  upon. 

Bour.    The  Devil    take    order  now !     I  '11  to  the 

throng :  20 

Let  life  be  short ;  else  shame  will  be  too  long.    [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI.    Another  part  of  the  field. 
Alarums.    Enter  KING  HENRY  and  farces,  EXETER,  and  others. 
K.  Hen.    Well  have  we  done,  thrice  valiant  coun- 
trymen : 

But  all 's  not  done ;  yet  keep  the  French  the  field. 
Exe.    The  Duke  of  York  commends  him  to  your 

majesty. 

K.  Hen.  Lives  he,  good  uncle?  thrice  within  this  hour 
I  saw  him  down ;  thrice  up  again,  and  fighting ; 
From  helmet  to  the  spur  all  blood  he  was. 

Exe.    In  which  array,  brave  soldier,  doth  he  lie, 
Larding  the  plain ;  and  by  his  bloody  side, 
Yoke-fellow  to  his  honour-owing  wounds, 
The  noble  Earl  of  Suffolk  also  lies.  10 

Suffolk  first  died :  and  York,  all  haggled  over, 
7.  perdurable  —  lasting. 


118  KING  HENSY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

Comes  to  him,  where  in  gore  he  lay  insteep'd, 

And  takes  him  by  the  beard ;  kisses  the  gashes 

That  bloodily  did  yawn  upon  his  face ; 

And  cries  aloud  "  Tarry,  dear  cousin  Suffolk ! 

My  soul  shall  thine  keep  company  to  heaven ; 

Tarry,  sweet  soul,  for  mine,  then  fly  abreast, 

As  in  this  glorious  and  well-foughten  field 

We  kept  together  in  our  chivalry  !  " 

Upon  these  words  I  came  and  cheer'd  him  up :          20 

He  smil'd  me  in  the  face,  raughj;  me  his  hand, 

And,  with  a  feeble  gripe,  says  "  Dear  my  lord, 

Commend  my  service  to  my  sovereign." 

So  did  he  turn  and  over  Suffolk's  neck 

He  threw  his  wounded  arm  and  kiss'd  his  lips ; 

And  so  espous'd  to  death,  with  blood  he  seal'd 

A  testament  of  noble-ending  love. 

The  pretty  and  sweet  manner  of  it  fore'd 

Those  waters  from  me  which  I  would  have  stopp'd ; 

But  I  had  not  so  much  of  man  in  me,  30 

And  all  my  mother  came  into  mine  eyes 

And  gave  me  up  to  tears. 

K.  Hen.  I  blame  you  not ; 

For,  hearing  this,  I  must  perforce  compound 
With  mistful  eyes,  or  they  will  issue  too.  [Alarum. 

But,  hark !  what  new  alarum  is  this  same  ? 
The  French  have  reinforc'd  their  scatter'd  men : 
Then  every  soldier  kill  his  prisoners ; 
Give  the  word  through.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VII.    Another  part  of  the  field. 

Enter  FLUELLEN  and  GOWER. 

Flu.   Kill  the  poys  and  the  luggage  !  'tis  expressly 
against  the  law  of  arms  :  't  is  as  arrant  a  piece  of 
21.  raught  me  =  reached  me;  the  0.  E.  preterite.    W. 


SCENE  VII]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  119 

knafery,  mark  you  now,  as  can  be  offer't;  in  your 
conscience,  now,  is  it  not  ? 

Gow.  'Tis  certain  there  's  not  a  boy  left  alive  ;  and 
the  cowardly  rascals  that  ran  from  the  battle  ha'  done 
this  slaughter :  besides,  they  have  burned  and  carried 
away  all  that  was  in  the  King's  tent ;  wherefore  the 
King,  most  worthily,  hath  caus'd  every  soldier  to  cut 
his  prisoner's  throat.  O,  't  is  a  gallant  king  !  10 

Flu.  Ay,  he  was  porn  at  Mon mouth,  Captain 
Gower.  What  call  you  the  town's  name  where  Alex- 
ander the  Pig  was  born ! 

Gow.    Alexander  the  Great. 

Flu.  Why,  I  pray  you,  is  not  pig  great  ?  the  pig,  or 
the  great,  or  the  mighty,  or  the  huge,  or  the  magnani- 
mous, are  all  one  reckonings,  save  the  phrase  is  a 
little  fariations. 

Gow.  I  think  Alexander  the  Great  was  born  in 
Macedon :  his  father  was  called  Philip  of  Macedon, 
as  I  take  it.  21 

Flu.  I  think  it  is  in  Macedon  where  Alexander  is 
porn.  I  tell  you,  captain,  if  you  look  in  the  maps  of 
the  'orld,  I  warrant  you  sail  find,  in  the  comparisons 
between  Macedon  and  Monmouth,  that  the  situations, 
look  you,  is  both  alike.  There  is  a  river  in  Macedon  ; 
and  there  is  also  moreover  a  river  at  Monmouth :  it  is 
called  Wye  at  Monmouth  ;  but  it  is  out  of  my  prains 
what  is  the  name  of  the  other  river  ;  but  't  is  all  one, 
't  is  alike  as  my  fingers  is  to  my  fingers,  and  there  is 
salmons  in  both.  If  you  mark  Alexander's  life  well, 
Harry  of  Monmouth's  life  is  come  after  it  indifferent 
well;  for  there  is  figures  in  all  things.  Alexander, 
God  knows,  and  you  know,  in  his  rages,  and  his  furies, 
and  his  wraths,  and  his  cholers,  and  his  moods,  and 
32.  is  come  after  it  =  resembles  it. 


120  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  IV 

his  displeasures,  and  his  indignations,  and  also  being 
a  little  intoxicates  in  his  prains,  did,  in  his  ales  and  his 
angers,  look  you,  kill  his  best  friend,  Cleitus. 

Gow.  Our  King  is  not  like  him  in  that :  he  never 
kilFd  any  of  his  friends.  40 

Flu.  It  is  not  well  done,  mark  you  now,  to  take 
the  tales  out  of  my  mouth,  ere  it  is  made  and  finished. 
I  speak  but  in  the  figures  and  comparisons  of  it :  as 
Alexander  killed  his  friend  Cleitus,  being  in  his  ales 
and  his  cups ;  so  also  Harry  Monmouth,  being  in  his 
right  wits  and  his  good  judgements,  turn'd  away  the 
fat  knight  with  the  great-belly-doublet :  he  was  full 
of  jests,  and  gipes,  and  knaferies,  and  mocks ;  I  have 
forgot  his  name. 

Gow.    Sir  John  Falstaff.  50 

Flu.  That  is  he :  I  '11  tell  you  there  is  good  men 
porn  at  Monmouth. 

Gow.    Here  comes  his  majesty. 

Alarum.    Enter  KING  HENRY  and  forces :  WARWICK,  GLOUCESTER, 
EXETER,  WILLIAMS,  and  others. 

K.  Hen.    I  was  not  angry  since  I  came  to  France 
Until  this  instant.    Take  a  trumpet,  herald ; 
Hide  thou  unto  the  horsemen  on  yon  hill : 
If  they  will  fight  with  us,  bid  them  come  down, 
Or  void  the  field  ;  they  do  offend  our  sight : 
If  they  '11  do  neither,  we  will  come  to  them, 
And  make  them  skirr  away,  as  swift  as  stones  60 

Enforced  from  the  old  Assyrian  slings : 
Besides,  we  '11  cut  the  throats  of  those  we  have, 
And  not  a  man  of  them  that  we  shall  take 
Shall  taste  our  mercy.    Go  and  tell  them  so. 
Enter  MONTJOY. 

Exe.    Here  comes  the  herald  of  the  French,  my  liege. 
Glo.    His  eyes  are  humbler  than  they  used  to  be. 


SCENE  VII]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  121 

K.  Hen.    How   now !    what  means   this,   herald  ? 

know'st  thou  not 

That  I  have  fin'd  these  bones  of  mine  for  ransom  ? 
Com'st  thou  again  for  ransom  ? 

Mont.  No,  great  king : 

I  come  to  thee  for  charitable  license,  70 

That  we  may  wander  o'er  this  bloody  field 
To  look  our  dead,  and  then  to  bury  them ; 
To  sort  our  nobles  from  our  common  men. 
For  many  of  our  princes  —  woe  the  while  !  — 
Lie  drown'd  and  soak'd  in  mercenary  blood ; 
So  do  our  vulgar  drench  their  peasant  limbs 
In  blood  of  princes ;  and  their  wounded  steeds 
Fret  fetlock  deep  in  gore  and  with  wild  rage 
Yerk  out  their  armed  heels  at  their  dead  masters, 
Killing  them  twice.    O,  give  us  leave,  great  king,     80 
To  view  the  field  in  safety  and  dispose 
Of  their  dead  bodies  ! 

K.  Hen.  I  tell  thee  truly,  herald, 

I  know  not  if  the  day  be  ours  or  no ; 
For  yet  a  many  of  your  horsemen  peer 
And  gallop  o'er  the  field. 

Mont.  The  day  is  yours. 

K.  Hen.    Praised  be  God,  and  not  our  strength, 

for  it ! 
What  is  this  castle  call'd  that  stands  hard  by  ? 

Mont.    They  call  it  Agincourt. 

K.  Hen.    Then  call  we  this  the  field  of  Agincourt, 
Fought  on  the  day  of  Crispin  Crispianus.  90 

Flu.    Your  grandfather  of  famous  memory,  an 't 

please  your  majesty,  and  your  great-uncle   Edward 

the  Plack  Prince  of  Wales,  as  I  have  read  in  the 

chronicles,  fought  a  most  prave  pattle  here  in  France. 

74.  woe  the  while  =  woe  be  to  the  day. 


122  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  IV 

K.  Hen.    They  did,  Fluellen. 

Flu.  Your  majesty  says  very  true :  if  your  majes- 
ties is  remembered  of  it,  the  Welshmen  did  good  ser- 
vice in  a  garden  where  leeks  did  grow,  wearing  leeks 
in  their  Monmouth  caps ;  which,  your  majesty  know, 
to  this  hour  is  an  honourable  badge  of  the  service ; 
and  I  do  believe  your  majesty  takes  no  scorn  to  wear 
the  leek  upon  Saint  Tavy's  day.  102 

K.  Hen.    I  wear  it  for  a  memorable  honour ; 
For  I  am  Welsh,  you  know,  good  countryman. 

Flu.  All  the  water  in  Wye  cannot  wash  your  ma- 
jesty's Welsh  plood  out  of  your  pody,  I  can  tell  you 
that.  God  pless  it  and  preserve  it,  as  long  as  it  pleases 
his  grace,  and  his  majesty  too  ! 

K.  Hen.    Thanks,  good  my  countryman.  109 

Flu.  By  Jeshu,  I  am  your  majesty's  countryman,  I 
care  not  who  know  it ;  I  will  confess  it  to  all  the  'orld  : 
I  need  not  to  be  ashamed  of  your  majesty,  praised  be 
God,  so  long  as  your  majesty  is  an  honest  man. 

K.  Hen.    God  keep  me  so!   Our  heralds  go  with  him: 
Bring  me  just  notice  of  the  numbers  dead 
On  both  our  parts.    Call  yonder  fellow  hither. 

[Points  to  Williams.    Exeunt  Heralds  with  Montjoy. 

Exe.    Soldier,  you  must  come  to  the  King. 

K.  Hen.  Soldier,  why  wear'st  thou  that  glove  in 
thy  cap?  119 

Will.  An  't  please  your  majesty,  't  is  the  gage  of 
one  that  I  should  fight  withal,  if  he  be  alive. 

K.  Hen.    An  Englishman? 

Will.  An  't  please  your  majesty,  a  rascal  that 
swagger'd  with  me  last  night ;  who,  if  alive  and  ever 

99.  Monmouth  caps  :=  a  kind  of  woolen  cap  made  at  Mon- 
mouth and  much  worn  by  soldiers.    W. 
104.  Henry  was  born  at  Monmouth. 
124.  who  if  alive  :  Perhaps  "  if  'a  live  "  =  if  he  live.   W. 


SCENE  VII]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  123 

dare  to  challenge  this  glove,  I  have  sworn  to  take  him 
a  box  o'  th'  ear  :  or  if  I  can  see  my  glove  in  his  cap, 
which  he  swore,  as  he  was  a  soldier,  he  would  wear  if 
alive,  I  will  strike  it  out  soundly. 

K.  Hen.  What  think  you,  Captain  Fluellen  ?  is 
it  fit  this  soldier  keep  his  oath  ?  130 

Flu.  He  is  a  crafen  and  a  fillain  else,  an 't  please 
your  majesty,  in  my  conscience. 

K.  Hen.  It  may  be  his  enemy  is  a  gentleman  of 
great  sort,  cjuite  from  the  answer  of  his  degree. 

Flu.  Though  he  be  as  good  a  gentleman  as  the 
Devil  is,  as  Lucifer  and  Belzebub  himself,  it  is  neces- 
sary, look  your  grace,  that  he  keep  his  fow  and  his 
oath  :  if  he  be  perjur'd,  see  you  now,  his  reputation  is  as 
arrant  a  villain  and  a  Jacksauce,  as  ever  his  black 
shoe  trod  upon  God's  ground  and  his  earth,  in  my 
conscience,  la !  141 

K.  Hen.  Then  keep  thy  vow,  sirrah,  when  thou 
meet'st  the  fellow. 

Will.    So  I  will,  my  liege,  as  I  live. 

K.  Hen.    Who  serv'st  thou  under  ? 
Will.    Under  Captain  Gower,  my  liege. 

Flu.  Gower  is  a  good  captain,  and  is  good  know- 
ledge and  literatured  in  the  wars. 

J5T.  Hen.    Call  him  hither  to  me,  soldier.  149 

Will.    I  will,  my  liege.  [Exit. 

K.  Hen.  Here,  Fluellen  ;  wear  thou  this  favour  for 
me  and  stick  it  in  thy  cap :  when  Alei^on  and  myself 
were  down  together,  I  pluck'd  this  glove  from  his  helm  : 
if  any  man  challenge  this,  he  is  a  friend  to  Alen9on, 
and  an  enemy  to  our  person  ;  if  thou  encounter  any 
such,  apprehend  him.  an  thou  dost  me  love. 

134.  quite;  i.  e.  of  rank  very  unequal  to  his  degree. 

148.  literatured  =  well-read ;  high  praise  in  Fluellen's  mind. 


124  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [Acx  1^ 

Flu.  Your  grace  doo's  me  as  great  honours  as  can 
be  desir'd  in  the  hearts  of  his  subjects :  I  would  fain 
see  the  man,  that  has  but  "two  legs,  that  shall  find 
himself  aggriefed  at  this  glove ;  that  is  all ;  but  I 
would  fain  see  it  once,  an  please  God  of  his  grace  that 
I  might  see.  162 

J5T.  Hen.   Know'st  thou  Gower  ? 

Flu.    He  is  my  tear  friend,  an  please  you. 

K.  Hen.  Pray  thee,  go  seek  him,  and  bring  him  to 
my  tent. 

Flu.    I  will  fetch  him.  [Exit. 

K.  Hen.    My  Lord  of  Warwick,  and  my  brother 

Gloucester, 

Follow  Fluellen  closely  at  the  heels : 
The  glove  which  I  have  given  him  for  a  favour        170 
May  haply  purchase  him  a  box  o'  th'  ear ; 
It  is  the  soldier's ;  I  by  bargain  should 
Wear  it  myself.    Follow,  good  cousin  Warwick : 
If  that  the  soldier  strike  him,  as  I  judge 
By  his  blunt  bearing  he  will  keep  his  word, 
Some  sudden  mischief  may  arise  of  it ; 
For  I  do  know  Fluellen  valiant 
And,  touch'd  with  choler,  hot  as  gunpowder, 
And  quickly  will  return  an  injury: 
Follow,  and  see  there  be  no  harm  between  them.     180 
Go  you  with  me,  uncle  of  Exeter.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  VIII.    Before  KING  HENRY'S  pavilion. 

Enter  GOWER  and  WILLIAMS. 
Will.    I  warrant  it  is  to  knight  you,  captain. 

Enter  FLUELLEN. 

Flu.    God's  will  and  his  pleasure,  captain,  I  peseech 
you  now,  come  apace  to  the  King  :  there  is  more  good 
178.  touch'd  -with  choler,  when  irritated. 


SCENE  VIII]     KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  125 

toward  you  perad venture  than  is  in  your  knowledge  to 
dream  of. 

Will.    Sir,  know  you  this  glove  ? 
Flu.    Know  the  glove  !  I  know  the  glove  is  a  glove. 

Will.   I  know  this  ;  and  thus  I  challenge  it. 

[Strikes  him. 

Flu.  'Sblood !  an  arrant  traitor  as  any  is  in  the 
universal  world,  or  in  France,  or  in  England !  10 

Gow.    How  now,  sir  !   you  villain  ! 

Will.    Do  you  think  I  '11  be  forsworn  ? 

Flu.  Stand  away,  Captain  Gower;  I  will  give 
treason  his  payment  into  plows,  I  warrant  you. 

Will.    I  am  no  traitor. 

Flu.  That 's  a  lie  in  thy  throat.  I  charge  you  in 
his  majesty's  name,  apprehend  him  :  he  's  a  friend  of 
the  Duke  Alen^on's. 

Enter  WARWICK  and  GLOUCESTER. 

War.    How  now,  how  now  !  what 's  the  matter? 

Flu.  My  Lord  of  Warwick,  here  is  —  praised  be 

God  for  it !  —  a  most  contagious  treason  come  to  light, 

look  you,  as  you  shall  desire  in  a  summer's  day.    Here 

is  his  majesty.  23 

Enter  KING  HENRY  and  EXETER. 

K.  Hen.    How  now !  what 's  the  matter  ? 

Flu.  My  liege,  here  is  a  villain  and  a  traitor,  that, 
look  your  grace,  has  struck  the  glove  which  your 
majesty  is  take  out  of  the  helmet  of  Alenson. 

Will.  My  liege,  this  was  my  glove;  here  is  the 
fellow  of  it ;  and  he  that  I  gave  it  to  in  change 
promis'd  to  wear  it  in  his  cap :  I  promis'd  to  strike 
him,  if  he  did :  I  met  this  man  with  my  glove  in  his 
cap,  and  I  have  been  as  good  as  my  word.  32 

Flu.  Your  majesty  hear  now,  saving  your  majesty's 

14.  into  =  in,  probably,  although  Capel  has  conjectured  in  two. 


126  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ ACT  IV 

manhood,  what  an  arrant,  rascally,  peggarly,  lousy 
knave  it  is  :  I  hope  your  majesty  is  pear  me  testimony 
and  witness,  and  will  avouchment,  that  this  is  the 
giove  of  Alen^on,  that  your  majesty  is  give  me ;  in 
your  conscience,  now? 

K.  Hen.  Give  me  thy  glove,  soldier :  look,  here  is 
the  fellow  of  it.  40 

'T  was  I,  indeed,  thou  promisedst  to  strike  ; 
And  thou  hast  given  me  most  bitter  terms. 

Flu.  An  please  your  majesty,  let  his  neck  answer 
for  it,  if  there  is  any  martial  law  in  the  world. 

K.  Hen.    How  canst  thou  make  me  satisfaction  ? 

Will.  All  offences,  my  lord,  come  from  the  heart : 
never  came  any  from  mine  that  might  offend  your 
majesty. 

K.  Hen.    It  was  ourself  thou  didst  abuse.  49 

Will.  Your  majesty  came  not  like  yourself :  you 
appear'd  to  me  but  as  a  common  man  ;  witness  the 
night,  your  garments,  your  lowliness  ;  and  what  your 
highness  suffer'd  under  that  shape,  I  beseech  you  take 
it  for  your,  own  fault  and  not  mine  :  for  had  you  been 
as  I  took  you  for,  I  made  no  offence ;  therefore,  I  be- 
seech your  highness,  pardon  me. 

K.  Hen.    Plere,  uncle  Exeter,  fill  this  glove  with 

crowns, 

And  give  it  to  this  fellow.   Keep  it,  fellow  ; 
And  wear  it  for  an  honour  in  thy  cap 
Till  I  do  challenge  it.    Give  him  the  crowns  :  60 

And,  captain,  you  must  needs  be  friends  with  him. 

Flu.  By  this  day  and  this  light,  the  fellow  has 
mettle  enough  in  his  belly.  Hold,  there  is  twelve  pence 
for  you  ;  and  I  pray  you  'to  serve  Cot,  and  keep  you 
out  of  prawls,  and  prabbles,  and  quarrels,  and  dissen- 
sions, and,  I  warrant  you,  it  is  the  better  for  you. 


SCENE  VIII]    KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  127 


I  will  none  of  your  money. 
Flu.    It  is  with  a  good  will  ;  I  can  tell  you,  it  will 
serve  you  to  mend  your  shoes  :  come,  wherefore  should 
you  be  so  pashful  ?  your  shoes  is  not  so  good  :  't  is  a 
good  silling,  I  warrant  you,  or  I  will  change  it.          71 

Enter  an  English  Herald. 

K.  Hen.    Now,  herald,  are  the  dead  number'd  ? 

Her.    Here  is  the  number  of  the  slaughter'd  French. 

K.  Hen.    What  prisoners  of  good  sort  are  taken, 
uncle  ? 

Exe.    Charles   Duke   of   Orleans,  nephew   to   the 

King; 

John  Duke  of  Bourbon,  and  Lord  Bouciqualt  : 
Of  other  lords  and  barons,  knights  and  squires, 
Full  fifteen  hundred,  besides  common  men. 

K.  Hen.  This  note  doth  tell  me  of  ten  thousand 

French 

That  in  the  field  lie  slain  :  of  princes,  in  this  number, 
And  nobles  bearing  banners,  there  lie  dead  81 

One  hundred  twenty  six  :  added  to  these, 
Of  knights,  esquires,  and  gallant  gentlemen, 
Eight  thousand  and  four  hundred  ;  of  the  which, 
Five  hundred  were  but  yesterday  dubb'd  knights  : 
So  that,  in  these  ten  thousand  they  have  lost, 
There  are  but  sixteen  hundred  mercenaries  ; 
The  rest  are  princes,  barons,  lords,  knights,  squires, 
And  gentlemen  of  blood  and  quality. 
The  names  of  those  their  nobles  that  lie  dead  :          90 

81.  bearing  banners  ;  i.  e.  who  led  each  his  own  force  to 
the  battle. 

87.  mercenaries  =  soldiers  who  had  pay;  contradistinguished 
from  those  who  fought  under  their  own  lords'  banners.  W. 

90.  This  list  comprises  most  of  those  addressed  by  the  King 
of  France  in  III,  v,  40-45. 


128  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH          [ACT  IV 

Charles  Delabreth,  High  Constable  of  France ; 
Jacques  of  Chatillon,  Admiral  of  France ; 
The  master  of  the  cross-bows,  Lord  Kambures ; 
Great    Master  of    France,  the  brave    Sir    Guichard 

Dauphin, 

John  Duke  of  Alenc,on,  Anthony  Duke  of  Brabant, 
The  brother  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
And  Edward  Duke  of  Bar  :  of  lusty  earls, 
Grandpre  and  Koussi,  Fauconberg  and  Foix, 
Beaumont  and  Marie,  Vaudemont  and  Lestrale. 
Here  was  a  royal  fellowship  of  death  !  100 

Where  is  the  number  of  our  English  dead  ? 

[Herald  shows  him  another  paper. 

Edward  the  Duke  of  York,  the  Earl  of  Suffolk, 

Sir  Richard  Ketly,  Davy  Gam,  esquire  : 

None  else  of  name ;  and  of  all  other  men 

But  five  and  twenty.    O  God,  thy  arm  was  here ; 

And  not  to  us,  but  to  thy  arm  alone, 

Ascribe  we  all !    When,  without  stratagem, 

But  in  plain  shock  and  even  play  of  battle, 

Was  ever  known  so  great  and  little  loss 

On  one  part  and  on  the  other?   Take  it,  God,          110 

For  it  is  none  but  thine ! 

Exe.  'T  is  wonderful ! 

K.  Hen.    Come,  go  we  in  procession  to  the  vil- 
lage: 

And  be  it  death  proclaim'd  through  our  host 
To  boast  of  this  or  take  that  praise  from  God 
Which  is  his  only. 

103.  Davy  Gam.  This  brave  Welshman  saved  Henry's  life 
in  the  battle.  Before  the  onset,  Henry  sent  him  to  reconnoitre 
the  enemy,  and  his  report  was,  "  May  it  please  you,  my  liege, 
there  are  enough  to  be  killed,  enough  to  be  taken  prisoners,  and 
enough  to  run  away."  W. 


PROLOGUE]      KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  129 

Flu.  Is  it  not  lawful,  an  please  your  majesty,  to 
tell  how  many  is  kill'd? 

K.  Hen.    Yes,  captain  ;  but  with  this  acknowledg- 
ment, 
That  God  fought  for  us. 

Flu.    Yes,  my  conscience,  he  did  us  great  good. 

K.  Hen.    Do  we  all  holy  rites :  121 

Let  there  be  sung  Non  nobis  and  Te  Deum  ; 
The  dead  with  charity  enclosed  in  clay : 
And  then  to  Calais ;  and  to  England  then  : 
Where  ne'er  from  France  arriv'd  more  happy  men. 

[Exeunt. 

ACT  V 

PROLOGUE 

Enter  Chorus. 

Chor.    Vouchsafe  to  those  that  have  not  read  the 

story, 

That  I  may  prompt  them  :  and  of  such  as  have, 
I  humbly  pray  them  to  admit  the  excuse 
Of  time,  of  numbers  and  due  course  of  things, 
Which  cannot  in  their  huge  and  proper  life 
Be  here  presented.    Now  we  bear  the  King 
Toward  Calais  :  grant  him  there ;  there  seen, 
Heave  him  away  upon  your  winged  thoughts 
Athwart  the  sea.    Behold,  the  English  beach 
Pales  in  the  flood  with  men,  with  wives  and  boys,     10 
Whose  shouts  and  claps  out- voice  the  deep-mouth'd  sea, 
Which  like  a  mighty  whiffler  'fore  the  King 

Prologue.  The  Prologue  here  recounts  much  that  could  not 
have  been  presented  on  the  stage. 

12.  whiffler  =  an  officer  who  headed  processions,  clearing 
the  way  by  whiffling  a  wooden  sword  through  the  air.  W. 


130  KING  HENftY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  V 

Seems  to  prepare  his  way :  so  let  him  land, 

And  solemnly  see  him  set  on  to  London. 

So  swift  a  pace  hath  thought  that  even  now 

You  may  imagine  him  upon  Blackheath ; 

Where  that  his  lords  desire  him  to  have  borne 

His  bruised  helmet  and  his  bended  sword 

Before  him  through  the  city :  he  forbids  it, 

Being  free  from  vainness  and  self-grievous  pride ;    20 

Giving  full  trophy,  signal  and  ostent 

Quite  from  himself  to  God.    But  now  behold, 

In  the  quick  forge  and  working-house  of  thought, 

How  London  doth  pour  out  her  citizens ! 

The  mayor  and  all  his  brethren  in  best  sort, 

Like  to  the  senators  of  th'  antique  Rome, 

With  the  plebeians  swarming  at  their  heels, 

Go  forth  and  fetch  their  conquering  Caesar  in : 

As,  by  a  lower  but  loving  likelihood, 

Were  now  the  general  of  our  gracious  empress,         30 

As  in  good  time  he  may,  from  Ireland  coming, 

Bringing  rebellion  broached  on  his  sword, 

How  many  would  the  peaceful  city  quit, 

To  welcome  him !  much  more,  and  much  more  cause, 

Did  they  this  Harry.    Now  in  London  place  him  ; 

As  yet  the  lamentation  of  the  French 

Invites  the  King  of  England's  stay  at  home ; 

The  Emperor's  coming  in  behalf  of  France, 

To  order  peace  between  them  ;  and  omit 

All  the  occurrences,  whatever  chanc'd,  40 

Till  Harry's  back-return  again  to  France  : 

There  must  we  bring  him ;  and  myself  have  play'd 

30.  the  general  of  our  gracious  empress  =  the  Earl  of 
Essex,  Robert  Devereux.  W.  See  Introduction,  p.  3. 

38.  The  Emperor  =  Sigismund  of  Germany,  Henry's  cou- 
sin. W. 


SCENE  I]          KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  131 

The  interim,  by  remembering  you  't  is  past. 
Then  brook  abridgement,  and  your  eyes  advance, 
After  your  thoughts,  straight  back  again  to  France. 

[Exit. 

SCENE  I.    France.    The  English  camp. 
Enter  FLUELLEN  and  GOWER. 

Gow.  Nay,  that 's  right ;  but  why  wear  you  your 
leek  to-day  ?  Saint  Davy's  day  is  past. 

Flu.  There  is  occasions  and  causes  why  and  where- 
fore in  all  things :  I  will  tell  you,  asse  my  friend, 
Captain  Gower  :  the  rascally,  ecauld,  beggarly,  lousy, 
pragging  knave,  Pistol,  which  you  and  yourself  and 
all  the  world  know  to  be  no  petter  than  a  fellow,  look 
you  now,  of  no  merits,  he  is  come  to  me  and  prings  me 
pread  and  salt  yesterday,  look  you,  and  bid  me  eat 
my  leek :  it  was  in  a  place  where  I  could  not  breed 
no  contention  with  him ;  but  I  will  be  so  bold  as  to 
wear  it  in  my  cap  till  I  see  him  once  again,  and  then 
I  will  tell  him  a  little  piece  of  my  tesires.  13 

Enter  PISTOL. 

Gow.  Why,  here  he  conies,  swelling  like  a  turkey- 
cock. 

Flu.  'T  is  no  matter  for  his  swellings  nor  his  tur- 
key-cocks. God  pless  you,  Aunchient  Pistol !  you 
scurfy,  lousy  knave,  God  pless  you ! 

Pist.    Ha  !  art  thou  bedlam  ?  dost  thou  thirst,  base 

Trojan, 

To  have  me  fold  up  Parca's  fatal  web  ?  20 

Hence !  I  am  qualmish  at  the  smell  of  leek. 

Flu.    I  peseech  you  heartily,  scurfy,  lousy  knave, 

44.  brook  abridgement :  allow  the  shortening. 

5.  scauld  =  having  a  diseased  scalp.    W. 

19.  Trojan  was  a  slang  name  for  any  doubtful  character. 


132  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

at  my  tesires,  and  my  requests,  and  my  petitions,  to 
eat,  look  you,  this  leek  :  because,  look  you,  you  do  not 
love  it,  nor  your  affections  and  your  appetites  and  your 
digestions  doo's  not  agree  with  it,  I  would  tesire  you 
to  eat  it. 

Pist.   Not  for  Cadwallader  and  all  his  goats. 

Flu.  There  is  one  goat  for  you.  [Strikes  him.'] 
Will  you  be  so  good,  scauld  knave,  as  eat  it  ?  30 

Pist.    Base  Trojan,  thou  shalt  die. 

Flu.  You  say  very  true,  scauld  knave,  when  Cot's 
will  is :  I  will  desire  you  to  live  in  the  mean  time,  and 
eat  your  fictuals  :  come,  there  is  sauce  for  it.  [Strikes 
him.']  You  call'd  me  yesterday  mountain-squire  ;  but 
I  will  make  you  to-day  a  squire  of  low  degree.  I  pray 
you,  fall  to  :  if  you  can  mock  a  leek,  you  can  eat  a 
leek.  38 

Gow.    Enough,  captain  :  you  have  astonish'd  him. 

Flu.  I  say,  I  will  make  him  eat  some  part  of  my 
leek,  or  I  will  peat  his  pate  four  days.  Bite,  I  pray 
you  ;  it  is  good  for  your  green  wound  and  your  ploody 
coxcomb. 

Pist.    Must  I  bite? 

Flu.  Yes,  certainly,  and  out  of  doubt  and  out  of 
question  too,  and  ambiguities. 

Pist.  By  this  leek,  I  will  most  horribly  revenge  :  I 
eat,  and  yet  I  swear  — 

Flu.  Eat,  I  pray  you :  will  you  have  some  more 
sauce  to  your  leek  ?  there  is  not  enough  leek  to  swear 
py.  51 

Pist.    Quiet  thy  cudgel;  thou  dost  see  I  eat. 

Flu.  Much  good  do  you,  scauld  knave,  heartily. 
Nay,  pray  you,  throw  none  away  ;  the  skin  is  coot 

28.  Cadwallader  -  the  last  Welsh  king  of  Wales.    W. 
43.  coxcomb  =  head. 


SCENE  I]         KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  133 

for  your  proken  coxcomb.  When  you  take  occasions 
to  see  leeks  hereafter,  I  pray  you,  mock  at  'em ;  that 
is  all. 

Fist.    Good. 

Flu.  Ay,  leeks  is  coot :  hold  you,  there  is  a  croat 
to  heal  your  pate.  60 

Pist.    Me  a  groat ! 

Flu.  Yes,  ferily  and  in  truth  you  shall  take  it ; 
or  I  have  another  leek  in  my  pocket,  which  you  shall 
eat. 

Pist.    I  take  thy  groat  in  earnest  of  revenge. 

Flu.  If  I  owe  you  any  thing,  I  will  pay  you  in 
cudgels  :  you  shall  be  a  wood  monger,  and  buy  nothing 
of  me  but  cudgels.  God  b'  wi'  you,  and  keep  you,  and 
heal  your  pate.  [Exit. 

Pist.    All  hell  shall  stir  for  this.  70 

Gow.  Go,  go ;  you  are  a  counterfeit  cowardly 
knave.  Will  you  mock  at  an  ancient  tradition,  begun 
upon  an  honourable  respect,  and  worn  as  a  memorable 
trophy  of  predeceased  valour  and  dare  not  avouch  in 
your  deeds  any  of  your  words  ?  I  have  seen  you  gleek- 
ing  and  galling  at  this  gentleman  twice  or  thrice.  You 
thought,  because  he  could  not  speak  English  in  the 
native  garb,  he  could  not  therefore  handle  an  English 
cudgel :  you  find  it  otherwise  ;  and  henceforth  let  a 
Welsh  correction  teach  you  a  good  English  condition. 
Fare  ye  well.  [Exit. 

Pist.    Doth  Fortune  play  the  huswife  with  me  now  ? 
News  have  I,  that  my  Nell  is  dead  i'  th'  spital ;         83 
And  there  my  rendezvous  is  quite  cut  off. 
Old  I  do  wax ;  and  from  my  weary  limbs 

82.  huswife  =  hussy.    W. 

84.  rendezvous,  if  it  means  anything,  probably  means  rest. 
Cf.  II,  i,  16. 


134  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

Honour  is  cudgell'd.    Well,  bawd  I  '11  turn, 

And  something  lean  to  cutpurse  of  quick  hand. 

To  England  will  I  steal,  and  there  I  '11  steal : 

And  patches  will  I  get  unto  these  scars, 

And  swear  I  got  them  in  the  Gallia  wars.  [Exit. 

SCEXE  II.    France.   A  royal  palace. 

Enter,  at  one  door,  KING  HENRY,  EXETER,  BEDFORD,  GLOUCESTER, 
WARWICK,  WESTMORELAND,  and  other  Lords ;  at  another,  the 
FRENCH  KING,  QUEEN  ISABEL,  the  PRINCESS  KATHARINE,  ALICE, 
and  other  Ladies ;  the  DUKE  OF  BURGUNDY,  and  his  train. 

K.  Hen.    Peace  to  this  meeting,  wherefore  we  are 

met ! 

Unto  our  brother  France,  and  to  our  sister, 
Health  and  fair  time  of  day ;  joy  and  good  wishes 
To  our  most  fair  and  princely  cousin  Katharine ; 
And,  as  a  branch  and  member  of  this  royalty, 
By  whom  this  great  assembly  is  contrived, 
We  do  salute  you,  Duke  of  Burgundy ; 
And,  princes  French,  and  peers,  health  to  you  all ! 

Fr.  King.    Right  joyous  are  we   to   behold  your 

face, 

Most  worthy  brother  England  ;  fairly  met :  10 

So  are  you,  princes  English,  every  one. 

Q.  Isa.    So  happy  be  the  issue,  brother  England, 
Of  this  good  day  and  of  this  gracious  meeting, 
A  s  we  are  now  glad  to  behold  your  eyes ; 
Your  eyes,  which  hitherto  have  borne  in  them 
Against  the  French,  that  met  them  in  their  bent, 
The  fatal  balls  of  murdering  basilisks  : 

Scene  II.  France.  This  conference  took  place  at  Troyes. 
It  is  substantially  historical,  although  Shakespeare  hurries  up 
matters  somewhat  on  account  of  the  necessities  of  the  theatre. 

17.  basilisks  were  fabled  serpents  with  murderous  eyes  ; 
and  the  name  was  also  that  of  a  kind  of  cannon.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  135 

The  venom  of  such  looks,  we  fairly  hope, 
Have  lost  th,eir  quality,  and  that  this  day 
Shall  change  all  griefs  and  quarrels  into  love.  20 

K.  Hen.    To  cry  amen  to  that,  thus  we  appear. 

Q.  Isa.    You  English  princes  all,  I  do  salute  you. 

Bur.    My  duty  to  you  both,  on  equal  love, 
Great  Kings  of  France  and  England !     That  I  have 

labour'd, 

With  all  my  wits,  my  pains  and  strong  endeavours, 
To  bring  your  most  imperial  majesties 
Unto  this  bar  and  royal  interview, 
Your  mightiness  on  both  parts  best  can  witness. 
Since  then  my  office  hath  so  far  prevail'd 
That,  face  to  face  and  royal  eye  to  eye,  30 

You  have  congreeted,  let  it  not  disgrace  me, 
If  I  demand,  before  this  royal  view, 
What  rub  or  what  impediment  there  is, 
Why  that  the  naked,  poor  and  mangled  Peace, 
Dear  nurse  of  arts,  plenties  and  joyful  births, 
Should  not  in  this  best  garden  of  the  world, 
Our  fertile  France,  put  up  her  lovely  visage  ? 
Alas,  she  hath  from  France  too  long  been  chas'd, 
And  all  her  husbandry  doth  lie  on  heaps, 
Corrupting  in  its  own  fertility.  40 

Her  vine,  the  merry  cheerer  of  the  heart, 
Unpruned  dies  ;  her  hedges  even-pleach'd, 
Like  prisoners  wildly  overgrown  with  hair, 
Put  forth  disorder'd  twigs  ;  her  fallow  leas 

27.  bar  :  is  interpreted,  barrier,  place  of  congress  ;  but  I 
doubt  the  word,  for  several  reasons,  and  believe  that  we  should 
read,/mr.  W. 

33.  rub  =  difficulty. 

42.  even-pleach'd  =  having  a  smooth  surface  almost  like  a 
plank.  W. 


136  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

The  darnel,  hemlock  and  rank  fumitory 
Doth  root  upon,  while  that  the  coulter  rusts 
That  should  deracinate  such  savagery ; 
The  even  mead,  that  erst  brought  sweetly  forth 
The  freckled  cowslip,  burnet  and  green  clover, 
(Wanting  the  scythe,  all  uncorrected,  rank,  50 

/  Conceives  by  idleness  and  nothing  teems 
[  But  hateful  docks,  rough  thistles,  kexes,  burs, 
I  Losing  both  beauty  and  utility. 
And  as  our  vineyards,  fallows,  meads  and  hedges, 
Defective  in  their  natures,  grow  to  wildness, 
Even  so  our  houses  and  ourselves  and  children 
Have  lost,  or  do  not  learn  for  want  of  time, 
The  sciences  that  should  become  our  country ; 
But  grow  like  savages,  —  as  soldiers  will 
That  nothing  do  but  meditate  on  blood,  —  60 

To  swearing  and  stern  looks,  diffus'd  attire 
And  every  thing  that  seems  unnatural. 
Which  to  reduce  into  our  former  favour 
You  are  assembled :  and  my  speech  entreats 
That  I  may  know  the  let,  why  gentle  Peace 
Should  not  expel  these  inconveniences 
And  bless  us  with  her  former  qualities. 

K.  Hen.   If,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  you  would  the  peace, 
Whose  want  gives  growth  to  the  imperfections 
Which  you  have  cited,  you  must  buy  that  peace        70 
With  full  accord  to  all  our  just  demands  ; 
Whose  tenours  and  particular  effects 
You  have  enscheduled  briefly  in  your  hands. 

49.  freckled  =  speckled. 

52.  kexes  :  kex  was  a  name  given  to  hollow-stalked  weeds.  W. 

65.  let :  one  of  those  words  that  have  two  opposite  meanings: 
it  means  to  allow  and  to  hinder,  though  the  latter  is  now  prac- 
tically obsolete  :  here  it  means  hindrance. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  137 

Bur.  The  King  hath  heard  them  ;  to  the  which  as 

yet 
There  is  no  answer  made. 

K.  Hen.  Well  then  the  peace, 

Which  you  before  so  urg'd,  lies  in  his  answer. 

FT.  King.    I  have  but  with  a  cursorary  eye 
O'erglanc'd  the  articles  :  pleaseth  your  grace 
To  appoint  some  of  your  council  presently 
To  sit  with  us  once  more,  with  better  heed  80 

To  re-survey  them,  we  will  suddenly 
Pass  our  accept  and  peremptory  answer. 

K.  Hen.    Brother,  we  shall.    Go,  uncle  Exeter, 
And  brother  Clarence,  and  you,  brother  Gloucester, 
Warwick  and  Huntingdon,  go  with  the  King  ; 
And  take  with  you  free  power  to  ratify, 
Augment,  or  alter,  as  your  wisdoms  best 
Shall  see  advantageable  for  our  dignity, 
Any  thing  in  or  out  of  our  demands, 
And  we  '11  consign  thereto.    Will  you,  fair  sister,      90 
Go  with  the  princes,  or  stay  here  with  us  ? 

Q.  Isa.    Our  gracious  brother,  I  will  go  with  them  : 
Haply  a  woman's  voice  may  do  some  good, 
When  articles  too  nicely  urg'd  be  stood  on. 

K.  Hen.   Yet  leave  our  cousin  Katharine  here  with 

us: 

She  is  our  capital  demand,  compris'd 
Within  the  fore-rank  of  our  articles. 

Q.  Isa.    She  hath  good  leave. 

[Exeunt  all  except  Henry,  Katharine,  and  Alice. 

K.  Hen.  Fair  Katharine,  and  most  fair, 

Will  you  vouchsafe  to  teach  a  soldier  terms 

82.  accept :  used  as  an  adjective,  with   its  simple   proper 
sense.    W. 

94.  nicely  =  particularly. 


138  KING  HEmtY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

Such  as  will  enter  at  a  lady's  ear  100 

And  plead  his  love-suit  to  her  gentle  heart  ? 

Kaih.  Your  majesty  shall  mock  at  me ;  I  cannot 
speak  your  England. 

K.  Hen.  O  fair  Katharine,  if  you  will  love  me 
soundly  with  your  French  heart,  I  will  be  glad  to  hear 
you  confess  it  brokenly  with  your  English  tongue. 
Do  you  like  me,  Kate  ? 

Kaih.  Pardonnez-moi,  I  cannot  tell  vat  is. "  like  me." 

K.  Hen.  An  angel  is  like  you,  Kate,  and  you  are 
like  an  angel.  110 

Kaih.    Que  dit-il  ?  queje  suis  semblable  ^lj^ 

Alice.    Oui,  vraiment,  sauf votre  grace,  amsidlt-lL 

K.  Hen.  I  said  so,  dear  Katharine;  and  I  must 
not  blush  to  affirm  it. 

Kaih.  O  bon  Dieu !  les  langues  des  hommes  sont 
pleines  de  tromperies. 

K.  Hen.  What  says  she,  fair  one  ?  that  the  tongues 
of  men  are  full  of  deceits  ? 

Alice.  Oui,  dat  de  tongues  of  de  mans  is  be  full  of 
deceits  :  dat  is  de  Princess.  120 

K.  Hen.  The  Princess  is  the  better  Englishwoman. 
P  faith,  Kate,  my  wooing  is  fit  for  thy  understanding : 

am  glad  thou  canst  speak  no  better  English  ;  for,  if 
lou  couldst,  thou  wouldst  find  me  such  a  plain  king 
that  thou  wouldst  think  I  had  sold  my  farm  to  buy 
crown.  I  know  no  ways  to  mince  it  in  love,  but 
^---—directly  to  say  "I  love  you:"  then  if  you  urge  me 
farther  than  to  say  "  do  you  in  faith  ?  "  I  wear  out  my 
suit.  Give  me  your  answer;  i'  faith,  do:  and  so  clap 
hands  and  a  bargain:  how  say  you,  lady?  130 

Kaih.   Sauf  votre  honneur,  me  understand  veil.  ^  ^ 

111.  Que  dit-il  ?  etc.  =  what  says  he,  that  I  am  like  the  angels? 
Alice  replies  that  he  does.  W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  139 

".  Hen.    Marry,  if  you  would  put  me  to  verses  or  to 
nee  for  your  sake,  Kate,  why  you  undid  me :  for 
the  one,  I  have  neither  words  nor  measure,  and  for 
the  other  I  have  no  strength  in  measure,  yet  a  reason-^  /^ 
able  measure  in  strengtn.     If  I  could  win  a  lady  at 
leap-frog,  or  by  vaulting  into  my  saddle  with  my  ar-"*^K_ 
niour  on  my  back,  under  the  correction  of  braggingj)£-  ^^ 
it  spoken,  I  should  quickly  leap  into  a  wife.^tjr  if  I 
might  buffet  for  my  love,  or  bound  my  horse  for  her 
favours,  I  could  lay  on  like  a  butcher  and  sit  like  a 
jack-an-apes,  never  off.    But,  before  God,  Kate,  I  can- 
not look  greenly  nor  gasp  out  my  eloquenceVnor  I 
have  no  cunning  in  protestation  ;  only  downright  oaths, 4  L,- 
which  I  never  use  till  urg'd,  nor  never  break  for  urg-  '    M 
ing.    If  thou  canst  love  a  fellow  of  thi§  temper,  Kate, 


whose  face  is  not  worth  sun-burning,  that  never  looks 
in  his  glass  for  love  ofiany  thing  he  sees  there,  let 
thine  eye  be  thy  c§o&$L  speak  to  thee  plain  soldier : 
if  thou  canst  love  me  for  this,  take  Ce^  if  not,  to  say 
to  thee  that  I  shall  ^la^is^true ;    but  for  thy  love, 
by  the  Lord,  no ;  yet  I  love  thee  too.    And  while  thou 
liv'st,  dear  Kate,  take  a  fellow  of  plain  and  uncoined 
constancy ;    for  he  perforce  must  do  thee  right,  be- 
cause he  hath  not  the  gift  to  woo  in  other  places :   for 
^      these  fellows  of  infinite  tongue,  that  can  rhyme  them- 
j       selves   into   ladies'  favours,   they  do   always   reason 
themselves   out  again.    What!  a  speaker  is   but   a 
^/     prater  ;  a  rhyme  is  but  a  ballad.    A  good  leg  will  fall ; 

ka  straight  back. will  stoop;  a  black  beard  will  turn     n 
white  ;  a  curl'd  pate  will  grow  bald  ;   a  fair  face  will 
wither  ;  a  full  eye  will  wax  hollow :  but  a  good  hea 

135.  The  pun  is  on  the  meanings  of  measure ;  a  metre,  a  dance, 
an  amount. 

153.  uncoined  constancy  :  whose  mind  has  never  borne  the 
stamp  of  another  face.  W. 


140  KING  HEN  AY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

Kate,  is  the  sun  and  the  moon ;  or  rather  the  sun  and 
not  the  moon ;  for  it  shines  bright  and  never  changes, 
ps  his  course  truly.  If  thou  would  have  such  a 
one,  take  me ;  and  take  me,  take  a  soldier ;  take  a  sol- 
dier, take  a  king.  And  what  say'st  thou  then  to  my 
love  ?  speak,  my  fair,  and  fairly,  I  pray  thee. 

i.    Is  it  possible  dat  I  should  love  de  enemy  of 
France?  170 

K.  Hen.  No ;  it  is  not  possible  you  should  love  the 
enemy  of  France,  Kate  :  but,  in  loving  me,  you  should 
love  the  friend  of  France ;  for  I  love  France  so  well 
that  I  will  not  part  with  a  village  aTltf  I  will  have 
it  all  mine :  and,  Kate,  when  France  is  mine  and  I 
am  yours,  then  yours  is  France  and  you  are  mine. 

Kath.    I  cannot  tell  vat  ij^dat.    f^  <€***  <*-*  177 

K.  Hen.  No,  Kate  ?  I  will  tell  thee  in  French ; 
which  I  am  sure  will  hang  upon  my  tongue  like  a  new- 
married  wife  about  her  husband's  neck,  hardly  to  be 
shook  off.  Je  quand  sur  le  possession  de  France,  et 
quand  vous  avez  le  possession  de  moi,  —  let  me  see, 
what  then  ?  Saint  Denis  be  my  speed  !  —  done  votre 
est  France  et  vous  etes  mienne.  It  is  as  easy  for  me, 
Kate,  to  conquer  the  kingdom  as  to  speak  so  much 
more  French :  I  shall  never  move  thee  in  French,  un- 
less it  be  to  laugh  at  me. 

Kath.  Sauf  votre  honneur,  le  Francois  que  vous 
parlez,  il  est  meilleur  que  VAnglois  lequelje  parle.  189 

K.  Hen.  No,  faith,  is  't  not,  Kate :  but  thy  speak- 
ing of  my  tongue,  and  I  thine,  most  truly-falsely,  must 
needs  be  granted  to  be  much  at  one.  But,  Kate,  dost 
thou  understand  thus  much  English,  canst  thou  love 
me? 

188.  Sauf  votre  honneur,  etc.  The  princess  tells  him  that 
his  French  is  better  than  her  English.  W. 


SCENE  II]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  141 

Kath.    I  cannot  tell. 

K.  Hen.  Can  any  of  your  neighbours  tell,  Kate  ?  ; 
I  '11  ask  them.  Come,  I  know  thou  lovest  me  :  and  at 
night,  when  you  come  into  your  closet,  you  '11  question 
this  gentlewoman  abo-QTOfnel^ndl/know,  Kate,  you 
will  to  her  dispraise  those  parts  mmethat  you  love  with 
your  heart  :  but,  good  Kate,  mock  me  mercifully  ;  the^x 
rather,  gentle  princess,  because  I  love  thee  cruelly^^St 
ever  thou  beest  mine,  Kate,  as  I  have  a  saving  faith 
within  me  tells  me  thou  shalt,  I  get  thee  with  scam- 
bling,  and  thou  must  therefore  needs  prove  a  good 
soldier-breeder  :  shalt  not  thou  and  I,  between  Saint 
Denis  and  Saint  George,  compound  a  boy,  half  French, 
half  English,  that  shall  go  to  Constantinople  and  take 
the  Turk  by  the  beard  ?  shall  we  not  ?  what  say'st  thou, 
my  fair  flower-de-luce  ?  210 

Kath.    I  do  not  know 


K.  Hen.  No  ;  't  is  hereafter  to  know,  but  now  to 
promise  :  do  but  now  promise,  Kate,  you  will  endeavour 
for  your  French  part  of  such  a  boy  ;  and  for  my  Eng- 
lish moiety  take  the  word  of  a  king  and  a  bachelor. 
How  answer  you,  la  plus  belle  Katharine  du  monde, 
mon  tres  cher  et  devin  deesse  ?  sfa/J*^ 

Kath.    Your  majestee  ave  fausse  French  enough  to  J 
deceive  de  most  sage  demoiselle  dat  is  en  France.    219 

K.  Hen.  "Now,  fie  upon  my  false  French  !  By  mine 
honour,  in  true  English,  I  love  thee,  Kate  :  by  which 
honour  I  dare  not  swear  thou  lovest  me  ;  yet  my  blood 
begins  to  flatter  me  that  thou  dost,  notwithstanding 
the  poor  and  untempering  effect  of  my  visagft*  Now, 
beshrew  my  father's  ambition  !  he  was  thinking  of 
civil  wars  when  he  got  me  :  therefore  was  I  created 

204.  scambling  =  scrambling  in  a  rough  and  tumble  kind  of 
way.  W. 


142  KING  HEN&Y  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

with  a  stubborn  outside,  with  an  aspect  of  iron,  that, 
when  I  come  to  woo  ladies,  I  fright  them.  But,  in 
faith,  Kate,  the  elder  I  wax,  the  better  I  shall  appear  : 
my  comfort  is,  that  old  age,  that  ill  layer  up  of  beauty, 
can  do  no  more  spoil  upon  my  face  :  thou  hast  me,  if 
thou  hast  me,  at  the  worst ;  and  thou  shalt  wear  me, 
if  thou  wear  me,  better  and  better :  and  therefore  tell 
me,  most  fair  Katharine,  will  you  have  me  ?  Put  off 
your  maiden  blushes ;  avouch  the  thoughts  of  your 
heart  with  the  looks  of  an  empress ;  take  me  by  the 
hand,  and  say,  Harry  of  England,  I  am  thine  :  which 
word  thou  shalt  no  sooner  bless  mine  ear  withal,  but  I 
will  tell  thee  aloud,  England  is  thine,  Ireland  is  thine, 
France  is  thine,  and  Henry  Plantagenet  is  thine  ;  who, 
though  I  speak  it  before  his  face,  if  he  be  not  fellow 
with  the  best  king,  thou  shalt  find  the  best  king  of 
good  fellows.  Come,  your  answer  in  broken  music ; 
for  thy  voice  is  music  and  thy  English  broken  ;  there- 
fore, queen  of  all,  Katharine,  break  thy  mind  to  me 
in  broken  English  ;  wilt  thou  have  me  ? 

Kath.    Dat  is  as  it  sail  please  de  roi  mon  pere. 

K.  Hen.  Nay,  it  will  please  him  well,  Kate ;  it  shall 
please  him,  Kate. 

Kath.    Den  it  sail  also  content  me.  250 

K.  Hen.  Upon  that  I  kiss  your  hand,. and  call  you 
my  queen. 

Kath.  Laissez,  mon  seigneur,  laissez,  laissez :  ma 
foi,  je  ne  veux  point  que  vous  abaissiez  votre  grandeur 
en  baisant  la  main  d'une  de  votre  seigneurie  indigne 
serviteur  ;  excusez-moi,  je  vous  supplie,  mon  tres- 
puissant  seigneur. 

243.  broken  music  =  harmony,  music  in  parts.   W. 
253.  Laissez.    The   princess   very  humbly  protests   against 
King  Henry's  condescension  in  kissing  her  hand.    W. 


SCENE  II]        KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  143 

K.  Hen.    Then  I  will  kiss  your  lips,  Kate. 

^KatJi.  Les  dames  et  demoiselles  pour  etre  baisees 
devant  leur  noces,  il  ?iest  pas  la  coutume  de  France. 

K.  Hen.    Madam  my  interpreter,  what  says  she  ? 

Alice.  Dat  it  is  not  be  de  fashion  pour  les  ladies  of 
France,  —  I  cannot  tell  vat  is  baiser  en  Anglish.  263 

K.  Hen.   To  kiss. 

Alice.    Your  majesty  entendre  bettre  que  moi. 

K.  Hen.  It  is  not  a  fashion  for  the  maids  in  France 
to  kiss  before  they  are  married,  would  she  say? 

Alice.    Oui,  vraiment. 

K.  Hen.  O  Kate,  nice  customs  curtsy  to  great 
kings.  Dear  Kate,  you  and  I  cannot  be  confined 
within  the  weak  list  of  a  country's  fashion :  we  are 
the  makers  of  manners,  Kate  ;  and  the  liberty  that  fol- 
lows our  places  stops  the  mouth  of  all  find-faults ;  as 
I  will  do  yours,  for  upholding  the  nice  fashion  of  your 
country  in  denying  me  a  kiss  :  therefore,  patiently  and 
yielding.  [Kissing  her.]  You  have  witchcraft  in 
your  lips,  Kate :  there  is  more  eloquence  in  a  sugar 
touch  of  them  than  in  the  tongues  of  the  French  coun- 
cil ;  and  they  should  sooner  persuade  Harry  of  Eng- 
land than  a  general  petition  of  monarchs.  Here  comes 
your  father.  281 

Re-enter  the  FRENCH   KING   and  his  QUEEN,  BURGUNDY,  and  other 
Lords. 

Bur.  God  save  your  majesty !  my  royal  cousin, 
teach  you  our  princess  English  ? 

K.  Hen.  I  would  have  her  learn,  my  fair  cousin, 
how  perfectly  I  love  her ;  and  that  is  good  English. 

Bur.    Is  she  not  apt  ? 

K.  Hen.  Our  tongue  is  rough,  coz,  and  my  condi- 
tion is  not  smooth ;  so  that,  having  neither  the  voice 
286.  apt  =  ready  to  learn. 


144  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [ACT  V 

nor  the  heart  of  flattery  about  me,  I  cannot  so  conjure 
up  the  spirit  of  love  in  her,  that  he  will  appear  in  his 
true  likeness.  291 

Bur.  Pardon  the  frankness  of  my  mirth,  if  I  an- 
swer you  for  that.  If  you  would  conjure  in  her,  you 
must  make  a  circle ;  if  conjure  up  love  in  her  in  his 
true  likeness,  he  must  appear  naked  and  blind.  Can 
you  blame  her  then,  being  a  maid  yet  ros'd  over  with 
the  virgin  crimson  of  modesty,  if  she  deny  the  appear- 
ance of  a  naked  blind  boy  in  her  naked  seeing  self  ? 
It  were,  my  lord,  a  hard  condition  for  a  maid  to  con- 
sign to.  300 

K.  Hen.  Yet  they  do  wink  and  yield,  as  love  is  blind 
and  enforces. 

Bur.  They  are  then  excus'd,  my  lord,  when  they 
see  not  what  they  do. 

K.  Hen.  Then,  good  my  lord,  teach  your  cousin  to 
consent  winking. 

Bur.  I  will  wink  on  her  to  consent,  my  lord,  if  you 
will  teach  her  to  know  my  meaning  :  for  maids,  well 
summer'd  and  warm  kept,  are  like  flies  at  Bartholomew- 
tide,  blind,  though  they  have  their  eyes  ;  and  then  they 
will  endure  handling,  which  before  would  not  abide 
looking  on.  312 

K.  Hen.  This  moral  ties  me  over  to  time  and  a  hot 
summer ;  and  so  I  shall  catch  the  fly,  your  cousin,  in 
the  latter  end  and  she  must  be  blind  too. 

Bur.    As  love  is,  my  lord,  before  it  loves. 

K.  Hen.  It  is  so  :  and  you  may,  some  of  you,  thank 
love  for  my  blindness,  who  cannot  see  many  a  fair 

294.  conjure  up;  there  is  a  good  example  of  conjuration  in 
2  Henry  VI,  I,  iv. 

313.  This  .  .  .  summer  :  Bartholomew-tide  was  about  the 
end  of  summer. 


SCENE  II]  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  145 

French  city  for  one  fair  French  maid  that  stands  in 
my  way.  320 

Fr.  King.  Yes,  my  lord,  you  see  them  perspectively, 
the  cities  turn'd  into  a  maid  ;  for  they  are  all  girdled 
with  maiden  walls  that  war  hath  never  entered. 

K.  Hen.    Shall  Kate  be  my  wife  ? 

Fr.  King.    So  please  you. 

K.  Hen.  I  am  content ;  so  the  maiden  cities  you 
talk  of  may  wait  on  her :  so  the  maid  that  stood  in 
the  way  for  my  wish  shall  show  me  the  way  to  my 
will. 

Fr.  King.  We  have  consented  to  all  terms  of  rea- 
son. 331 

K.  Hen.   Is  't  so,  my  lords  of  England  ? 

West.    The  King  hath  granted  every  article  : 
His  daughter  first,  and  then  in  sequel  all, 
According  to  their  firm  proposed  natures. 

Exe.  Only  he  hath  not  yet  subscribed  this  : 
Where  your  majesty  demands,  that  the  King  of  France, 
having  any  occasion  to  write  for  matter  of  grant,  shall 
name  your  highness  in  this  form  and  with  this  addition, 
in  French,  Notre  tres-cherfils  Henri,  Roi  d* Angleterre, 
Heritier  de  France  ;  and  thus  in  Latin,  Prceclarissi- 
mus  filius  noster  Ilenricus,  Rex  Anglice,  et  Hceres 
Francice.  343 

Fr.  King.  Nor  this  I  have  not,  brother,  so  denied, 
But  your  request  shall  make  me  let  it  pass. 

K.  Hen.   I  pray  you  then,  in  love  and  dear  alliance, 
Let  that  one  article  rank  with  the  rest ; 
And  thereupon  give  me  your  daughter. 

339.  addition  =  title. 

340.  Notre  tres-cher,  etc.  =  Our  very  dear  son  Henry,  King 
of  England,  Heir  of  France.     Prceclarissimus,  which  should  be 
prcecarissimus,  was  taken  out  of  Holinshed.   W. 


146  KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  [Acx  V 

Fr.  King.    Take  her,  fair  son,  and  from  her  blood 

raise  up 

Issue  to  me  ;  that  the  contending  kingdoms  350 

Of   France   and   England,   whose   very   shores   look 

pale 

With  envy  of  each  other's  happiness, 
May  cease  their  hatred,  and  this  dear  conjunction 
Plant  neighbourhood  and  Christian-like  accord 
In  their  sweet  bosoms,  that  never  war  advance 
His  bleeding  sword  'twixt  England  and  fair  France. 

All.    Amen ! 

K.  Hen.    Now,  welcome,  Kate  :  and  bear  me  witness 

all, 
That  here  I  kiss  her  as  my  sovereign  queen.     [Flourish. 

Q.  Isa.    God,  the  best  maker  of  all  marriages,    360 
Combine  your  hearts  in  one,  your  realms  in  one ! 
As  man  and  wife,  being  two,  are  one  in  love, 
So  be  there  'twixt  your  kingdoms  such  a  spousal, 
That  never  may  ill  office,  or  fell  jealousy, 
Which  troubles  oft  the  bed  of  blessed  marriage, 
Thrust  in  between  the  paction  of  these  kingdoms, 
To  make  divorce  of  their  incorporate  league ; 
That  English  may  as  French,  French  Englishmen, 
Receive  each  other.    God  speak  this  Amen! 

All.    Amen!  370 

K.  Hen.    Prepare  we  for  our  marriage :  on  which 

day, 

My  Lord  of  Burgundy,  we  '11  take  your  oath, 
And  all  the  peers',  for  surety  of  our  leagues. 
Then  shall  I  swear  to  Kate,  and  you  to  me ; 
And  may  our  oaths  well  kept  and  prosperous  be  ! 

[Sennet.    Exeunt. 

351.  look  pale:  in  allusion  to  the  chalky  cliffs  on  either  side 
of  the  Channel.    W. 


EPILOGUE]       KING  HENRY  THE  FIFTH  147 

EPILOGUE 

Enter  Chorus. 
Chor.    Thus  far,  with  rough  and  all-unable  pen, 

Our  bending  author  hath  pursued  the  story, 
In  little  room  confining  mighty  men, 

Mangling  by  starts  the  full  course  of  their  glory. 
Small  time,  but  in  that  small  most  greatly  liv'd 

This  star  of  England  :  Fortune  made  his  sword  ; 
By  which  the  world's  best  garden  he  achiev'd, 

And  of  it  left  his  son  imperial  lord. 
Henry  the  Sixth,  in  infant  bands  crown'd  King 

Of  France  and  England,  did  this  king  succeed  ;  10 
Whose  state  so  many  had  the  managing, 

That  they  lost  France  and  made  his  England  bleed  : 
Which  oft  our  stage  hath  shown ;  and,  for  their  sake, 
In  your  fair  minds  let  this  acceptance  take.  [Exit. 

Epilogue.  The  epilogue,  or  speech  at  the  end,  recommend- 
ing the  play  to  the  favor  of  the  audience,  was,  like  the  prologue, 
not  unusual  in  the  Elizabethan  drama.  It  lasted  to  rather  a 
later  period.  Shakespeare  uses  the  epilogue  in  several  plays, 
The  Tempest,  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  As  You  Like  It,  All 's 
Well  that  Ends  Well,  2  Henry  IV,  and  Henry  VIII.  He 
usually,  however,  has  some  other  ending,  a  dance  or  a  song 
as  in  Twelfth  Night,  Love's  Labor's  Lost,  Much  Ado  About 
Nothing  •  or,  as  in  the  tragedies  especially,  words  indicative  of 
the  players  leaving  the  stage.  It  may  be  that  Shakespeare  did 
not  always  feel  any  necessity  for  the  conventional  apologies  that 
usually  made  up  the  epilogue.  He  probably  knew  that  his  plays 
were  good  and  needed  no  apology. 

13.  Which  oft,  etc. :  meaning  the  plays  elder  and  later  on  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  popular  sub- 
ject. W. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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